Do I Need a Privacy Policy for my Website?
“Do I really need a privacy policy for my website?”
I hear this question ALL THE TIME. And almost always the answer is YES!
It’s easy to think that just a simple website without an email sign-up box doesn’t need a privacy policy or other online legal documents. But in reality, all websites collect information on visitors and the data laws state that you must disclose what information is tracked and what you’re doing with it (even if you’re not doing anything). Online legal documents serve to protect you as a business owner and some are even required by law.
However, before we really dive in I want to make one thing clear: I am NOT a lawyer. Nothing you read here should be construed as legal advice. If you need legal advice, consult a licensed attorney. That said, what I share here is what I’ve learned as a brand & web designer and a fellow business owner. So, let’s start by defining what the different types of legal documents there are for websites.
What’s the difference between Privacy Policy and Terms of Use for Website?
Privacy Policy
A Privacy Policy is all about the use of data. By owning a website you are more than likely collecting some amount of data on your visitors. Information collected often includes names, emails, IP addresses, etc. A privacy policy discloses to your visitors what you do with that data. It serves as a legal agreement between you and your visitors that fulfills your legal requirement as a website owner to protect their privacy. The majority of countries and states now have privacy laws that require websites to have a privacy policy. It doesn’t matter where YOUR business is located, but what does matter is the location of your site visitors or customers. If you collect ANY information from a visitor you are required by law to have a Privacy Policy.
Terms of Use or Terms & Conditions
The Terms of Use (Terms & Conditions) is a legal document that outlines what rules your website visitors must follow when accessing your site. It is a legally binding agreement. While data and privacy laws do not technically require a Terms of Use, it is a business best practice and it is a way to protect your original content and your business. Here are some things that are typically included in Terms of Use and why you may want to include these terms on your website:
State that your website cannot be used for illegal purposes, users cannot compromise the security, users cannot spam other users, or use inappropriate/harmful language.
State and protect your copyright of original content such text, original images, design, etc.
Limit your liability by including a clause about possible errors in your content and that you can't be held responsible for any errors in the content, or in the information being complete or accurate.
State which governing body (state and/or country) dictates and governs the terms so that should you ever have a dispute you don’t need to leave your state or country to resolve.
Disclaimer
A disclaimer is used to protect your liability if you provide legal, medical, or financial guidance. If you provide any advice or guidance that fits within those topics through your website content or blog topics you need a disclaimer. Even if you don’t provide any guidance, but you do any of the following, a disclaimer is still is a good idea to have:
Advertise or sell 3rd party services or goods.
Sell/display anything health related.
Participate in affiliate programs and share those links.
Reasons Why You Need a Privacy Policy for Your Website
Now that we’ve gone over some of the differences of the various legal documents for your website, let’s talk about some specific reasons why you need a privacy policy:
Collecting personal information through a website requires you to have a privacy policy as dictated by several different laws (European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), California Consumer Privacy Act(CCPA) and many more). If your website has any of the following you are collecting personal information.
An email sign-up
Uses any sort of analytics
Facebook pixel
A contact form
Cookies
Uses an online store
Privacy policies (and other legal terms) protect you and your business from being fined or sued. Website visitors have the right to report you for not protecting their privacy and for violating their rights. The fines for this can range from a few thousand to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Legal terms on your website will make you look more professional. It also can establish trust because visitors see that you are protecting their information and privacy.
How Can You Protect Your Business?
You can always find and hire a privacy attorney, but this is a very costly expense and the data and privacy laws are constantly changing which means you’ll have to hire them more than once to update your policies as the laws change. A more cost-effective option is to find a free or lower cost policy generator online. There are many of these, but the free ones come with huge limitations and some of the paid ones are confusing.
I recently discovered a better solution called Termageddon* which is who I currently use for my legal documents and now recommend to all small-business owners. Termageddon is an online policy generator that provides attorney reviewed policies at an affordable rate. Additionally, once your Termageddon policies have been generated you get a line of code that you can embed on your website so as the laws change your policies are automatically updated on your website.
Here’s why I recommend Termageddon*:
Easy to use—Termageddon has a step-by-step process to generate policies. It took me less than 30 minutes to generate my policies online and get them up on my website.
Customer support—Termageddon has incredible customer support. Honestly, this was a huge factor for me. I was immediately connected with Hans (he’s one of the owners!) and in the online world it’s nice to connect with a real human.
Affordable—These policies are so affordable! You can protect your business with attorney reviewed and auto-updated policies for $10/month or $99/year.
Automated—I mentioned this already, but the automation of the updates is amazing! It’s so time-consuming and tedious to review laws and legal documents and Termageddon takes this off my plate completely!
If you don’t yet have policies or want to update yours, I can’t recommend Termageddon enough! You can save 10% with this link or use JAMIE2.
*Please note that this is an affiliate link. When you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase, I receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you).
Grab your FREE Blueprint!
The 10-page guide includes:
Breakdown of brand essentials—logos, fonts, and images. Plus my favorite free resources!
Direction on writing content for each web page and essentials to include.
How to structure your pages
