{"id":623,"date":"2020-09-10T09:49:28","date_gmt":"2020-09-10T13:49:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.spicedigitalsolutions.com\/?p=623"},"modified":"2020-09-10T12:22:51","modified_gmt":"2020-09-10T16:22:51","slug":"complying-with-data-privacy-laws-what-is-a-privacy-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spicedigitalsolutions.com\/complying-with-data-privacy-laws-what-is-a-privacy-policy\/","title":{"rendered":"Complying with Data Privacy Laws &#8211; What is a Privacy Policy?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>This article will talk about how I use <a href=\"https:\/\/app.termageddon.com?fp_ref=spice\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/app.termageddon.com?fp_ref=spice\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Termageddon<\/a> to ease your privacy policy woes.\u00a0\u00a0Yes, not the most fun of topics, but an important one nonetheless!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>**cue hooded figure typing at 1000 words per minute on a computer**<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.spicedigitalsolutions.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/hacker-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"Computer hacker getting ready to breach this data\" class=\"wp-image-625\" width=\"512\" height=\"288\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.spicedigitalsolutions.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/hacker-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.spicedigitalsolutions.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/hacker-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.spicedigitalsolutions.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/hacker-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.spicedigitalsolutions.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/hacker-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.spicedigitalsolutions.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/hacker.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \/><figcaption>I swear&#8230;. these stock photos just get weirder and weirder.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.spicedigitalsolutions.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/data-privacy-certified-agency-partner.png\" alt=\"Data Privacy Certified Agency Partner\" class=\"wp-image-579\" width=\"192\" height=\"205\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.spicedigitalsolutions.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/data-privacy-certified-agency-partner.png 487w, https:\/\/www.spicedigitalsolutions.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/data-privacy-certified-agency-partner-280x300.png 280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 192px) 100vw, 192px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>I recently became a Certified Data Privacy Agency Partner with Termageddon.\u00a0 I was quizzed on my knowledge of data privacy, and fortunately, I passed with flying colors.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Does your business have a privacy policy in place?&nbsp; When you&#8217;re brainstorming the pages that you need for a website, you may overlook the fact that you need a privacy policy on your website.&nbsp; Here are some common objections that I hear:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>My website is a one page brochure-style website, so I don&#8217;t need one!<\/li><li>I don&#8217;t do business in Europe, so privacy laws in Europe don&#8217;t matter to me.<\/li><li>I&#8217;m not collecting any personal data!<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The simple truth is that you should have a privacy policy to protect you from possible litigation down the road. &nbsp; Privacy laws are changing on a regular basis, and even here in the United States, individual states are enacting privacy laws that are changing the internet for everyone.&nbsp; The issue has been apparent for years, but as with many laws pertaining to technology, privacy laws haven&#8217;t kept up with the landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Do you remember the golden era of Facebook quizzes?\u00a0 Just like everyone else, I had to find out which Spice girl I was.  Think back to 2016 with the <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/04\/04\/us\/politics\/cambridge-analytica-scandal-fallout.html\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/04\/04\/us\/politics\/cambridge-analytica-scandal-fallout.html\" target=\"_blank\">Cambridge-Analytics \/ Facebook scandal<\/a>.\u00a0 In the mid 2010s, Cambridge Analytica was able to harvest a large amount of personal user data when these users took a quiz called &#8220;thisisyourdigitallife,&#8221; and not only were they able to harvest that user&#8217;s data but also that user&#8217;s friend&#8217;s data. This allowed a company to have access to the personal data of millions of Facebook profiles.\u00a0 From this big data, Cambridge Analytica was able to develop &#8220;psychographic&#8221; profiles of people, and political campaigns were able to hypertarget emotional narratives to select groups of people.\u00a0 A great documentary about this is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=iX8GxLP1FHo\">The Great Hack<\/a> (2019) on Netflix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Personal data has become the most powerful asset on Earth, and privacy laws haven&#8217;t kept up with the technology.\u00a0 Nonetheless, we need to address privacy policies before it becomes too late.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is a Privacy Policy?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Generally speaking, a privacy policy is a legal agreement that explains what personal information a website gathers from its users, how that personal information is used, and how it is kept safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Personal data includes names, addresses (both physical and email), IP addresses, telephone numbers, date of birth, and financial information, such as debit and credit card details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition to outlining how a company uses the information, a privacy policy should also include how it will stay transparent to its users, and how those users sharing their data can seek recourse should the company fail to stay transparent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even a website having a simple form asking for a name and an email would need to have a compliant privacy policy to avoid possible fines and litigation.  If you use Google Analytics on your website, you must have a privacy policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why is a Privacy Policy Important?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Fines and lawsuits.&nbsp; We want to avoid them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the United States, there are already many states that have already enacted privacy laws, and <a href=\"https:\/\/iapp.org\/resources\/article\/state-comparison-table\/\">many more states who have bills in committee or introduced<\/a>.&nbsp; According to the <a href=\"https:\/\/iapp.org\/\">IAPP<\/a> (International Association of Privacy Professionals), there are currently 3 states with signed bills and 16 more states whose bills are in the legislative process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are currently four laws between the United States and the European Union that require that most websites that collect personal information to have a Privacy Policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The California Online Privacy Protection Act (CalOPPA)<\/li><li>The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)<\/li><li>Nevada&#8217;s Revised Statutes Chapter 603A and SB220<\/li><li>European Union&#8217;s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>These laws protect consumers of these states and countries, though not businesses.&nbsp; If you collect data from consumers within the European Union, California, or Nevada, you could be subject to these laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Privacy laws will become the norm in the next 5-10 years, and we foresee them getting more complicated down the road, not less complicated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Writing your own Privacy Policy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Writing your own privacy policy can be problematic, because you&#8217;re probably not a lawyer and these laws are ever evolving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Copying another business&#8217;s privacy policy doesn&#8217;t work since how a two businesses deal with data can widely vary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Using a privacy policy generator doesn&#8217;t guarantee that the policy is actually correct and usable.\u00a0 There are many of these so-called &#8220;policy generators&#8221; out there that exist just to make a quick buck from unsuspecting people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Enter Termageddon.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/app.termageddon.com\/?fp_ref=spice\">Termageddon<\/a> was founded by a privacy and technology attorney and offers a solution for privacy policies and other common legal documents (think Terms of Service, Disclaimers, and they are even branching out to Canadian, British, and European law).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For $10\/month or $99 for an annual license, you can have compliant policies that are up to date as laws change and are specifically created for your website.&nbsp; How though?&nbsp; The process is easy.&nbsp; It takes less than 10 minutes to go through their policy generator; you answer questions about your website and the type of data that you collect.&nbsp; When you&#8217;re done, you get a piece of embedded code that you can embed on your website to display the up-to-date policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Termaggeddon can update these policies remotely, since the policy isn&#8217;t actually hosted on your website.\u00a0 Since they can stay up to date with the world&#8217;s changing laws and remotely update policies for their customers, you can know that your website is compliant with privacy laws around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I use Termaggeddon to protect my company, and I recommend it for all of my customers.&nbsp; I include it in my monthly care plans, further ensuring that my customers are well taken care of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What&#8217;s Next?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you don&#8217;t have a privacy policy or you are not sure if it is compliant, contact me and we can dive into it together.\u00a0 You can <a href=\"https:\/\/termageddon.com\/pricing\/\">sign up for Termageddon<\/a> yourself and start setting up your policies, or I can help you get set up.\u00a0 I know it can be stressful not knowing if your website is protected or not, but fortunately, we have a solution that is reasonably priced as the ever evolving world of privacy laws change.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Disclosure: By making a purchase through links on this page, I will receive a very small commission at no extra cost to you.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This article will talk about how I use Termageddon to ease your privacy policy woes.\u00a0\u00a0Yes, not the most fun of topics, but an important one nonetheless! **cue hooded figure typing at 1000 words per minute on a computer** I recently became a Certified Data Privacy Agency Partner with Termageddon.\u00a0 I was quizzed on my knowledge &#8230; <a title=\"Complying with Data Privacy Laws &#8211; What is a Privacy Policy?\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.spicedigitalsolutions.com\/complying-with-data-privacy-laws-what-is-a-privacy-policy\/\" aria-label=\"More on Complying with Data Privacy Laws &#8211; What is a Privacy Policy?\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":626,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog-posts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spicedigitalsolutions.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spicedigitalsolutions.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spicedigitalsolutions.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spicedigitalsolutions.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spicedigitalsolutions.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=623"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.spicedigitalsolutions.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":635,"href":"https:\/\/www.spicedigitalsolutions.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623\/revisions\/635"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spicedigitalsolutions.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spicedigitalsolutions.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spicedigitalsolutions.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spicedigitalsolutions.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}