A Privacy Policy is a Must-Have

Why your website should have a privacy policy.

The U.S. government disclosed that hackers took the fingerprints of 5.6 million federal workers, which got me thinking about the time I was fingerprinted for an internship at the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission. I wonder if my prints were part of the batch. I may never find out. I know this to be true - no website or database or computer is completely secure.

Not surprisingly one of the biggest concerns among visitors to any website is how their personal information would be collected and used. Most businesses have a website but many do not have a privacy policy. Some day there will be laws federal and state to specifically mandate that websites publish a privacy policy. For now, having such a policy is crucial to nurturing your relationship with the visitors to your website - your potential or current customers. Disclosing to your website visitors how their information would be collected and used should be part of the customer-centric approach you already follow in your marketing and business strategy.

A privacy policy is a disclosure document to communicate to your visitors what information your website collects and how you use this information (i.e., names, addresses, credit card information). So it must accurately reflect your actual practices. Accuracy in your disclosure communications is a must. The Federal Trade Commission enforces and fines websites whose privacy policies are misleading or inaccurate. Speak to your attorney or any qualified attorney to identify what your practices are and how you could communicate those practices to your website's visitors.

Ultimately, privacy policies are important to your website visitors and therefore they are important to your business.

You can read our website's privacy policy here. The Small Business Administration also has a summary of current privacy laws here.