Privacy Policies are an essential part of running an online business. But how can you know how to write one? You're a business owner, not a lawyer! Luckily, you can have one written for you.
This article will outline what's involved in creating a detailed Privacy Policy and the expected costs associated with this.
Writing a Privacy Policy can be done easily. For very small businesses, online templates might do the trick. However, if you require a bit more depth, you're going to need a Privacy Policy created specifically for your unique business.
Our Free Privacy Policy Generator helps you create a custom Privacy Policy for your website and mobile app. Just follow these few simple steps and your Privacy Policy will be ready to display in minutes.
- Click on the "Free Privacy Policy Generator" button, located at the top of the website.
- Select where your Privacy Policy will be used:
- Answer a few questions about your business:
- Enter the country and click on the "Next Step" button:
- Continue with building your Privacy Policy while answering on questions from our wizard:
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Almost done. Now enter your email address where you'd like your new Privacy Policy sent and click on the "Generate" button and you're done.
That's it. Now you can copy and paste your Privacy Policy code into your website, or link to your hosted Privacy Policy.
The total cost of having this done can vary drastically, so read on to better judge how much you might be paying.
Factors that Affect the Cost of a Privacy Policy
Prices for having legal agreements such as a Privacy Policy tend to range from anywhere between $500 to $3000. The difference depends on a number of things, but one of the main ones is simply the variables from the needs of one business to the needs of another.
Some of the variables that can affect the cost of your Privacy Policy might include the level of legal expertise you hire. If you get assistance from a specialist rather than a general attorney your costs may be higher.
Urgency may also affect your costs. If you require a policy to be drafted immediately you may have to pay more versus if you can wait a few weeks.
Another thing that will affect the price of your Privacy Policy is your business itself. Each business is different, and will have different needs that have to be taken into account during the creation of their policies.
If you have a relatively straightforward website like a recipe blog or brand site, the total cost might be lower than it will be for a complex business.
For example, if you have unique intellectual property needs or there are restrictive laws in place that affect your provided services, your legal documents will have to be much more detailed than a simple blogging website.
One important thing to consider in estimating the cost of creating your Privacy Policy is whether you provide a website or mobile app that hosts user-generated content.
Also known as user created content (UCC), it refers to any content that is made and published by users of a social media platform. It's a relatively new and highly effective method of marketing, as it uses a company or platform's own customers as their brand advertisers.
UGC can be used for a number of different purposes, from product review websites, blogs and wikis, to social networking sites and multimedia content platforms. It can take a variety of different forms, like videos, texts, tweets photos, blog posts and much more.
If this is the case, it's very likely your legal needs will be much more complex, and therefore, much more costly.
Other business factors that will affect the complexity of your Privacy Policy (and its resulting costs) will include some of the following:
- The scope of personal information you collect and manage from your website visitors
- Whether you process online payments
- Whether you integrate with third parties, such as Google Analytics, AdSense, social media platforms, etc.
- Where your website visitors live
- Whether you attract minors to your site
What's more, if your company runs both a website and a mobile app, you're required to write a legal agreement that refers to each of them. Enlisting the help of a lawyer can help you do so.
As with anything, the cheapest route isn't always the best. When it comes to privacy laws and the potential costs of non-compliance, cutting corners is not recommended.
Justifying the Costs of a Privacy Policy
If you believe you can successfully write your Privacy Policy, that's great. But they can be confusing, especially because you must ensure all of the applicable laws and legislation that apply to you are properly addressed.
If you operate a very simple website or mobile app, it might be tempting to find policies from similar websites and simply copy them, changing any necessary details and doing your best to ensure legal compliance. However, this is ill-advised, as you can imagine.
First, you might be putting your business at risk of non-compliance with applicable privacy laws or opening yourself up to civil litigation.
Second, in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), if a legal document belonging to your company is found to include any inaccurate information or statements, it can be considered "deception," and action could be taken against you.
Privacy Policies are not one-size-fits-all, and it's important for you to be fully aware of how your customer data is dealt with regarding how it's collected, stored, used and shared.
This ensures both you and your customers are protected in the event of any breach in data. There are different types of data breaches that can occur in an online business, and your Privacy Policy needs to take them all into account for maximum protection.
Online data and security breaches can include things like:
- Unintended disclosure, whereby customer information is accidentally revealed online or sent to the wrong recipient.
- Malware and/or hacking, which is when a malicious outside influence is able to penetrate your system and create havoc within.
- Denial of service attacks, where customers are prevented from accessing their personal online services.
- Password phishing, which is where fake company emails are sent out to your customers in an attempt to get them to divulge their personal credentials for your site.
- Ransomware, a new type of security data breach that involves someone gaining access to your system and customer data, locking you out and holding the information for ransom.
With so many ways in which someone could potentially steal and use your customers' data for unscrupulous activity, protection is paramount.
Having a solid Privacy Policy in place, as well as proper cyber security measures, will ensure the best protection for everyone involved.
Though it might seem like a large investment to make, having a rock-solid, legally compliant, Privacy Policy in place pays for itself. It will limit your liability and mitigate potential costs of fines or legal issues.