A privacy statement, also called a data privacy policy, is a document that explains how your company collects, uses and protects the information it gathers about its customers.
A privacy statement should be a part of every website’s Terms and Conditions. If your site doesn’t have one, you should create one as soon as possible.
A privacy statement won’t protect you from all potential legal issues, but it can help you avoid common mistakes — and it can make your business seem more trustworthy to customers.
The Purpose of a Privacy Statement
Privacy statements have many purposes:
- They can be used to inform users about the collection of personal data and the use of cookies, for example.
- They can be used to inform users about the collection of personal data, including where the data is stored, processed and transferred.
- They can be used by individuals or groups who are not satisfied with the way their personal data has been processed by an organization in order to make a complaint or seek redress from an independent authority (such as a regulator or court).
