PRIVACY POLICY
Autor: Julio Ventura | Publicado: 2010-08-06T01:05:00-03:00

Fonte: VODAHOST 
Original: HE PRIVACY POLICY and WHY YOUR WEBSITE NEEDS ONE!THE PRIVACY POLICY and WHY YOUR WEBSITE NEEDS ONE!
 If   you’re running an e-commerce site or any site that registers visitors   and collects their information then your website NEEDS a good Privacy   Policy. It’s easy to leave out important things out as you fine tune the   look and feel of the website you’re building and a good Privacy Policy   could quite easily be one of them.

 A  Privacy Policy is basically information where you tell your visitors   about some or all of the ways that you gather, use, share and look after   your customer's data or, in fact, any data that you collect using your   website. It’s really all about being up-front and fair. Basically a  Privacy Policy says: “This is what information I collect and why; this   is how I keep it safe and I promise I will not give or show the   information I know about you to anyone else for any reason.

 As a perfect example, check out VodaHost’s very own Privacy Policy: http://www.vodahost.com/privacy.htm

 Keep researching too; below are links to the Privacy Policies of some of the most visited websites on the Internet:

 Google: http://www.google.com/privacypolicy.html
 Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/policy.php (this one has made headlines recently!)
 YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/t/privacy
 Yahoo!: http://privacy.yahoo.com
 Live: http://privacy.microsoft.com

 Adding   a good Privacy Policy to your website is a great ethical and moral   (even pseudo-legal) thing to do and today I’m going to help you, in a   few simple steps, craft a great Privacy Policy for your website so that   your customers know exactly why you need their information, how you are   going to use it and how you keep it private. Read through the Privacy   Policies above and then ask these simple questions of your own  website’s  Privacy Policy and you cannot go wrong:

 1] What types of information do you collect and how you use it?

 A  Privacy Policy is all about providing reassurance to your customers.   You should explain clearly what types of information you ask your   visitors for and just what you are going to do with that information.   Besides personal information (names, e-mails), what other information do   you keep track of? Do you collect information from children? How do  you  verify parental consent for information about their children?  Remember  that while maybe two thirds of Internet users might be willing  to accept  a guarantee that you will not abuse their privacy, the other  third may  feel extremely nervous about the way their personal  information might be  used. Therefore, if your web site gathers  transaction data to identify  visitors, to come up with new offers or to  sell their names to  merchandisers, you will need to explain how you  share that information  within your own family of companies and outside,  or else you will very  likely face serious legal problems.

 2] Why are your server and online operations are secure?

 Now   that you’ve told people what information you ask for and what you do   with it, you will have to tell your customers what makes your server and   online operations secure. Also you’ll need good answers when  confronted  with questions such as, ‘How do you make sure nobody steals  my credit  card information?’ or ‘How do you protect the privacy of my  emails to  your customer support team?’ Point out how your consumers can  tell if  they are really on a secure server, like the URL change from  http:// to  https:// as well as the icons that show up on the status bar  of your  users web browser (that little lock and how it locks and  unlocks). You  can even have a go at explaining encryption and even the  Secure Sockets  Layer (SSL). Most importantly, concentrate on the  benefits of these  measures to the consumer, for in the end, most of  them will not care  less about all the security measures you take and  all the money you  spend to make your website secure, unless it means  some kind of benefit  to them.

 3] Can your customers get out?

 When   people read your Privacy Policy for the first time, they will want to   know how they can start or stop receiving email from you. Giving   customers an opt-in and opt-out option is a great way to build trust and   lower their personal barriers. However, you must be aware that  people’s  needs, desires and interests might change over time and  despite the  fact that no one likes to lose a customer, you must let  them go if they  state that they are no longer interested in receiving  your emails. To  protect your customers’ privacy, you must give them  access to their  personal profile or account, and give them the option  to delete  themselves if they wish. Since one of the biggest invasions  of privacy  is spam (aaarrrggghhh!!!), one consideration is that it is a  good idea  to allow people to opt into your e-mail newsletter twice -  once by  clicking the check-box and Submit button on your website and  again by  responding to the e-mail notification that they can subscribe  if they  reply. This double opt-in makes it more likely that your  visitors will  know exactly what they are doing when they volunteer for  the email.  Remember to always include an ‘unsubscribe’ option at the  bottom of each  newsletter you email to your customer base. Of course,  if most of your  customers request to be removed from your mailing list  then you will  have a much more serious problem because your business  will be in danger  but you must still always give your customers a way  out.

 4] Can your customers view and edit their personal information?

 If   you give people the opportunity to view and edit their information,   chances are they will provide even more. The reasoning under this is   pretty basic: almost no one destroys his or her own data. Therefore,   whenever you display customers’ personal information, place clear and   visible labels indicating how they can edit it. Be clear about how they   can view and edit their information, i.e. ‘You can access all your   personally identifiable information that we collect online by logging in   and clicking the ‘Change User Info’ link in the box on the right-hand   side of every page’. Also, answer questions that might be of extreme   importance to some customers such as, ‘Can I review information you have   about my child?’.

 5] Have you informed customers about changes to your Privacy Policy?

 Most   businesses make changes to their Privacy Policies every now and again.   If you are among these businesses, you should let your customers know   how they can have find those changes and revisions. You can include a   sentence in your Privacy Policy such as, ‘New versions will be posted on   this web site, so please check back periodically for updates’.

 6] Do your customers know who to contact in case they have questions about privacy?

 Sometimes   people might have some pretty specific questions that are not fully   covered in your Privacy Policy. For example, where they can learn more   about their right to privacy or who they can talk to if they have a   question about their privacy. Always include one or more ways in which   customers can contact you regarding privacy issues. This point of   contact is a very big deal in terms of your customers or visitors   reassurance.

 7] Can people REALLY understand your privacy policy?

 Finally,   this issue can make the whole difference between a trusted business  and  one that looks OK but deep inside you feel you can’t trust.   Unfortunately, many Privacy Policies are written by lawyers and because   of this contain way too many technicalities and legal jargon. We often   do not question the value of legal terminology but I strongly emphasize   the fact that a Privacy Policy does not need to sound too serious or   elegant. It only needs to be clear and simple, so that your average   visitor can understand it with almost no effort. If you use industry or   in-house jargon without explanation you might make your visitors  suspect  that you are trying to pull the wool over their eyes and the  final  result makes the whole trust building purpose of the Privacy  Policy  pointless. Sure, you’ll have to talk about your security  precautions but  talk about them in plain English before you mention any  technical words  that most people will just not understand.

 My   advice to you on writing a great Privacy Policy can be summed up in   just two phrases: TELL IT AS IT IS! (Don’t lie to your customers) and   KEEP IT SIMPLE! __________________

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