Which policy is the right policy?
As an agency, your clients may ask you which policies they actually need for their website. This page is intended to help you understand the general purposes for each policy so you can help your clients!
Privacy Policy
If your website has a contact form or collects personal information through analytics, it needs a Privacy Policy.
Terms & Conditions
If you want to limit your liability, it should have a Terms & Conditions policy.
Cookie Policy
If your website uses cookies to track users, it should have a Cookie Policy.
Disclaimer
If a website offers affiliate links, advertises third-party products, or provides health advice, it should have a Disclaimer.
Understanding Website Policies
Privacy Policies
Contact forms, newsletter subscriptions, eCommerce forms, all ask for a “name” and “email”, which are examples of “Personally Identifiable Information” (PII). Multiple countries and states have enacted privacy laws that impose heavy fines for not having an up to date and compliant Privacy Policy. These laws can apply to small and large businesses, even if that business is located in a different area. Several of these proposed laws would enable its citizens to sue businesses of any size located anywhere. It’s simple: if you ask for PII via a contact form, and you want to avoid fines and lawsuits, provide a compliant Privacy Policy.
Terms & Conditions
Terms & Conditions limit a company’s liability, help establish rules to using a website, and help websites comply with consumer protection laws. One example is if a user clicks a link to a 3rd party site that is hacked, and then that user gets hacked, a Terms & Conditions helps prevent that business from being sued.
Bonus fun fact: A Terms and Conditions (aka Terms of Use) can provide a DMCA Notice, which can help protect your business from being sued for improper use of copyrighted material (like licensed images) in certain circumstances.
Disclaimer
Websites need a Disclaimer if they provide any information that could be seen as health or legal advice, offer affiliate links, display third-party advertisements or sell health products.
Cookie Policy
A Cookie Policy can help your website comply with privacy laws such as the ePrivacy Directive, GDPR, UK DPA, PIPEDA and CPRA. However, understanding if you are required to provide a Cookie Policy under privacy laws like these can be challenging. A good Cookie Policy generator can help you determine if these laws apply to your website.
Three facts all professional web agencies know
1. Collecting PII
Any website you build that collects as little as a name and/or an email address on a contact form is collecting ‘Personally Identifiable Information’ (PII). It’s also common for websites to collect PII through newsletter subscriptions, eCommerce forms, analytics tools (Google Analytics), and advertising pixels (Facebook Pixels).
2. Subject to Multiple Laws
States across America are proposing privacy laws to protect individuals and their PII. Some states are proposing laws that will enable its citizens to sue businesses (of any size) located anywhere in the United States. On top of that, multiple countries and states have implemented their own strict privacy laws which can apply to businesses outside of those countries.
3. You Can Protect Your Agency
Suggesting a Privacy Policy to your client not only protects your client from the fines and lawsuits associated with privacy law non-compliance, but it also protects your agency.