Last Updated October 24, 2023
What is a Website Privacy Policy?
A Privacy Policy is a statement on behalf of an organization or entity outlining how they use customer or client data that they collect online. It establishes the organization's practices regarding collecting, using, disclosing, protecting, and managing personal information. Additionally, a Privacy Policy might provide information on cookies: the data the website leaves on the user’s computer to improve their browsing experience.
A Privacy Policy generator creates an outward-facing statement directed towards the user. A Website Privacy Policy typically informs users of:
- What data the website collects from the user
- When the organization or entity collects personal information
- How the organization or entity uses personal information
- If the website uses cookies
- Who else has access to the data collected (such as third-party advertisers or business partners)
- How the company or organization will protect the user’s data from misuse and uphold its legal responsibilities regarding data use
- If the company can sell the user’s data to other enterprises
- How users can hold the organization or entity responsible for the misuse of their data
- How the user can opt-out of data sharing and what impact that might have on their experience
User data include personal information such as the user’s:
- Name
- Age
- Date of birth
- Address (physical and email)
- IP addresses
- Phone numbers
- Marital status
- Debit or credit card details
- Credit information
- Medical history
- Travel history
- Intentions to purchase goods or services
Many sites require users to acknowledge that they have read the Privacy Policy before using the site.
A Website Privacy Policy is also known as:
- Privacy agreement
- Privacy statement
- Privacy terms
How do I get a Privacy Policy for my website?
Every website is different and requires its own unique Privacy Policy. As a result, there isn’t one simple Privacy Policy notice you can post on your website. A custom Privacy Policy will encompass all the necessary regulations relevant to your website. You might feel tempted to copy and paste the Privacy Policy from a similar website, but this isn’t sufficient.
LawDepot’s Website Privacy Policy template is an easy way to create and customize an accurate and detailed statement that suits your website according to the laws in your jurisdiction. No matter whether you’re a small business crafting a Privacy Policy for the first time or a corporate company, our custom privacy notice will suit your needs.
A Privacy Policy should be separate from other website documentation, such as Website Terms and Conditions.
How do I write a Privacy Policy?
Writing a Privacy Policy doesn’t have to be an overwhelming process. Using a Privacy Policy generator or Website Privacy Policy template can help you create a custom notice suited to your website while ensuring that you don’t miss any critical details.
You can create a Privacy Policy for your:
- Blog
- E-Commerce of an online shop (including Shopify)
- Wix or Squarespace sites
- News or media
- Portfolio
- Other websites
Creating a Privacy Policy requires you first to provide important information about your website, including the:
- Name of the website owner
- Contact information of the website owner (phone number, email, and address)
- Domain name
Evaluate the scope of your business
Depending on where your organization operates, you may need to include certain details within your Privacy Policy. For example, both California and the EU have laws that outline how organizations and entities can use, collect, and distribute data from users in those jurisdictions. If your website has users, customers, or clients in these areas, you must comply with these laws regardless of where you are based.
LawDepot’s Privacy Policy will ask you if you do for-profit business in California. The questionnaire will also ask if you offer products or services to EU citizens or residents. If you do, you’ll need to provide a few additional details and clarify your legal bases for processing users' personal data.
Provide details on collecting and using data
The questionnaire will prompt you to answer some questions to understand how your website collects and uses data. Be prepared to answer questions regarding:
- Lawful basis for data processing: What are your legal bases for processing users' personal data?
- Automatic data collection: Is data automatically collected when users access your website? Which types of data do you collect automatically? How do you use the data you automatically collect?
- Non-automatic data collection: Do you collect data when users perform certain functions on your site? Which types of data do you collect? How do you collect this data? How do you use this data?
- Third-party disclosures: Are third parties able to collect, process, or access user data? Who are the third parties? What data is communicated to third parties? For what purpose is data communicated to third parties?
- Automated decision making: Do you use solely automated decision making, including profiling, to make decisions about users that have a legal or other similarly significant effects on users? What decision do you make using automated decision-making? What are the criteria or reasons relied on in making the automated decision? How will the decision affect users?
- Opt-out options: Can users of your site opt-out of the collection, use, or disclosure of their data? Which form of collection, use, or disclosure can users opt-out of? How do users opt-out of this collection, use, or disclosure?
- Data retention: How long do you keep the data?
- Security: What security measures do you take to protect user data?
- International data transfers: Is user data transferred to countries outside the country you’re based in? Which countries is data transferred to?
- Data protection officer details: Who is your data protection officer? How can they be contacted?
- Complaints: Which supervisory body can users lodge complaints to about your compliance with the GDPR?
Comply with child protection laws
Because of the laws surrounding the collection and use of children's data, you’ll need to explain how your website handles information collected from users under 13. Be prepared to answer the following questions:
- Does your website have a minimum age for users? If so, how do you acquire parental consent for the collection of their data?
- Do you have actual knowledge that you collect or allow others to collect personal information from children in the United States who are under 13 years of age?
- Does your site generate revenue and contain content aimed at children under 13 years of age, including children who live in the United States?
If you answer yes to these questions, the United States Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and COPPA rules apply to your website. You must provide direct notice to parents about how you collect and use children's information and obtain parental consent before collecting a child's personal information. To ensure that your Privacy Policy complies with these regulations, answer the following questions:
- What personal information do you collect from children under 13?
- How do you collect personal information from children under 13?
- Can children make their personal information publicly available on your site?
- How will you use the personal information you collect from children under 13?
- Do you disclose the personal information of children under 13 to any third parties? How does the third party use this information?
- Do any third parties collect or maintain the personal information of children under 13 from your website?
- Who will respond to parent or guardian questions about your privacy policy and use of children's information?
- How can parents exercise their rights over the personal information of their children under 13?
Describe cookie use
If your website uses cookies, you should address this within your Privacy Policy. Specify the kinds of cookies your website uses (such as functional cookies, analytical cookies, or targeting cookies). If your website uses third-party cookies, include how they are used.
Provide additional details
You may choose to include additional clauses in your Website Privacy Policy. Also note when your privacy notice comes into effect.
Is a Privacy Policy required by law?
Any website that collects personal information to any degree must have a Privacy Policy on their website, including:
- e-Commerce websites (or any website that processes payments)
- Companies that send out email newsletters
- Sites that use cookies to track user behavior
- Blogs or other sites that generate income through advertising (such as Google AdSense and Amazon Affiliates)
Most countries, including the United States, have laws requiring websites to have Privacy Policies present. However, the specifics of these laws vary between countries.
Privacy Policy Laws in the United States
In the United States, there is no single governing data protection legislation. However, websites are expected to follow their posted privacy policy. A failure to do so may be considered deceptive practice by the Federal Trade Commission. Additionally, there are a number of federal and state laws that apply to data protection and privacy and that govern the use of data collected from specific demographics.
For example, the Children’s Online Privacy Act (known as COPPA) regulates websites that target users under the age of 13 regardless of whether the site collects data or websites that collect data from users under 13, even if they’re not directed at that demographic. Usually, sites that collect information from children under the age of 13 must receive consent from the child’s parent or guardian first.
Additionally, the California Online Privacy Protection Act (commonly referred to as CalOPPA) is a privacy law that requires businesses that collect any user information in California to have a Privacy Policy. It requires that a website’s Privacy Policy clearly be visible to users and enforces the word "privacy" as part of the notice title.
California has another important law that governs data collection and online privacy, called the California Consumer Privacy Act (commonly referred to as CCPA). CCPA gives users more control over their data, allowing them a more active role within the data-gathering process.
These laws pertain only to data collected from residents of the state of California. However, any website with customers or clients within California must abide by these laws. The CCPA is only applicable to websites that do for-profit business in California and meet at least one of these thresholds:
- Have annual gross revenues over 25 million USD
- Buys, sells, shares, or receives the personal information of 50,000 or more California consumers, households, or devices
- Derives 50% or more of its annual revenues from selling California residents' personal information
As a result, if you do business in California and meet at least one of the thresholds above, it is important that you abide by the CCPA regardless of where you are based.
International Privacy Policy Laws
There are international laws to consider when crafting a Privacy Policy for your website, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) act from the EU, which was a strong inspiration for California’s CCPA. Much like CCPA, the GDPR grants users more control over the collection of their data. The act outlines six principles as the foundation for its requirements:
- Lawfulness, fairness, and transparency
- Limitation of purpose
- Data minimization
- Accuracy
- Storage limitations
- Data privacy and integrity
Like the California laws, the GDPR applies to all websites that offer goods and services to individuals in the EU or track the online behavior of people from the EU, whether they are based there or not. If you are doing business within the European Union, you must comply with the GDPR.
Part of the act pertains to how websites present notices to the public. To comply with the GDPR, you must ensure that your website’s Privacy Policy is:
- Written in plain language (avoiding jargon)
- Concise
- Transparent
- Easily accessible
- Free of charge
The GDPR also establishes eight user rights that you must include in your Privacy Policy:
- The right to data portability
- The right to object
- The right to not be subjected to automated decision-making
- The right to restriction of processing
- The right to be forgotten
- The right to be informed
- The right of access
- The right of rectification
LawDepot’s Website Privacy Policy template allows you to state whether you do business in areas like California and the EU that have specific laws regarding user data. We make sure your notice complies with all the necessary laws in the areas in which you conduct business.
How often should I update my Privacy Policy?
A Privacy Policy isn’t something you create once and never revise again. You should update this important document regularly. Best practices suggest reviewing and updating your Privacy Policy annually. However, if your company or entity experiences certain changes, don’t wait to update your Privacy Policy. Be proactive in preventing problems and minimizing risk.
Notable changes that may require you to update your policy include:
- Adopting new technology as part of the company
- A data breach occurs
- New laws regulating data usage come into effect
- Potential new threats
Don’t wait to update your Privacy Policy. Instead of waiting for an incident like a security breach to occur, prepare for the worst by keeping your security practices and Privacy Policy up-to-date.
Once you update your Privacy Policy, it’s important to let your customers know before the changes come into effect. Depending on your jurisdiction, you could also be legally required to inform your customers, clients, or users.
