Secure Value by Providing Privacy for Your Customers

11/12/2009

Secure Value by Providing Privacy for Your Customers

Use free DMA tool to build privacy policy -- and then follow it!

The Direct Marketing Association offers a free Privacy Policy Generator. It is touted as a tool that "Webmasters and administrators can complete a questionnaire (basing their answers on their site information policies) and create a privacy policy statement to be posted on their own Web page."

I suggest you use it a little differently.

Don't simply rely on your webmaster or an administrator to fill the survey in. Use it as a chance to discuss your online privacy practices. Do you do what you say you will do? Real trust can only be built by your being transparent about your practices. If you are collecting information on customers but don't want to admit to it are you operating in a way that builds consumer trust?

If you are building a new web based business use the survey to guide a discussion with your developer. Only collect information that you need to serve the customer best. If you aren't going to use it, don't collect it!

If you have an existing web facility use the survey to guide a discussion of your current practices. Are you collecting information that isn't used? Why? If you aren't using it but collecting it you are either exposing yourself if you aren't properly protecting it or spending money to protect something that you don't need in the first place!