Since the last time I wrote about website privacy policies back in 2018, a lot has changed, with the need to have updated privacy policies only becoming more compelling. Since the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) law went into effect 4 years ago, there’s been an expanding movement toward tighter consumer protections being enacted in the USA. California leads the way with two privacy protection laws on the books, and has since been joined by Colorado, Delaware, Nevada, Utah and Virginia, with the list constantly growing.
The takeaway is that you need to be concerned with state privacy laws because they impact everyone, not just businesses based in those specific countries or states. Laws in place, or under consideration, protect the residents of that locality, not businesses.
It’s also important to consider that you don’t need to have an e-commerce site or engaged in advanced marketing technology to be affected by privacy laws. The collection of any “PII” (personally identifiable information) not only means a e-commerce purchase form, but also includes simple contact forms. Even the most basic tracking (such as Google Analytics) counts as data collection. Even if your site doesn’t have a contact form, your traffic stats include information such as geographic location, browser and user device. In other words, your site is recording traffic and visitor data on some level, even if you’re not even trying!
Most importantly, having robust privacy policies in place is becoming a standard practice and your website’s visitors are learning to expect them. Having up-to-date policies and actively seeking cookie consent not only helps to protect your business from potential legal trouble, it also demonstrates care and respect for your visitors and prospects. It’s just good manners! 😇
For all of these reasons, I wholeheartedly recommend Termageddon. For an incredibly low annual fee, Termageddon automatically updates your website policies as the laws change. Your website license includes customizable Privacy, Terms and Conditions, and general Disclaimer policies (often used for affiliate partnerships). In addition, you can add a cookie policy and consent prompt to your website, via their partnership with Usercentrics Consent Management.
To see Termageddon in action, check out this site’s Privacy Policy, Affiliate Disclaimer and Terms and Conditions pages. You can also click on the “fingerprint” icon on the lower left of this page to view cookie information and consent options. All of these are automatically updated as laws and regulations change. Termageddon includes a client dashboard, where you can log in and make changes to your settings anytime.
As a Termageddon Data Privacy Certified Agency Partner, ProVirtual Solutions provides clients with (non-legal) guidance on how to implement the service and the technical integration with your website. While Termageddon makes setup easy, it helps to have a bit of guidance, as there’s a lot of questions in the policy customization process. ProVirtual Solutions can help!
Click to learn more about ProVirtual Solutions’ Termageddon Website Policy Service.
Photo by Victoria Heath on Unsplash