Privacy policy is important for websites. A privacy policy is a legal document that discloses the way you gather and use information you collect from customers. In addition to professional web design, it is important for your company’s website to comply with the laws and regulations governing websites. Privacy policy is particularly important for websites that collect information from customers and shows compliance with data protection laws. Although at the time of writing this article, UK or US laws do not make it mandatory for businesses to display privacy policy on their website, it certainly has its benefits.

Most professionally designed website should include a privacy policy document. If your company has a very basic web presence with only 2 or3 pages of information and does not collect any data from visitors, then you may not require a privacy policy on your website. However if you provide a range of information, sell products or collect any form of data from website visitors, then including a privacy policy statement is must. The content of a privacy policy varies from website to website, depending on what a company does with the data it collects and local jurisdictions.

A privacy policy on your website informs visitors about the way in which your company handles any personal information or data collected on the website.

Benefits of Privacy policy on website:

There are many advantages of providing a privacy policy document on your company’s website. Following are the top 5 benefits.

Inform users the purpose for collecting data

The privacy policy on your website informs your customers the purpose your website collects personal information from visitors. Customers are more likely to provide data if they know exactly why the data is being collected and more importantly how it will be used.

Address one of the biggest concerns of visitors

Research shows that one of the main concerns website visitors have is regarding how their personal information will be used by the company. A survey conducted by Business Week confirms that a majority of users are somewhat concerned about how their information would be used by websites. Privacy policy directly addresses this concern.

Avoid Suspicion and build trust

Not having a privacy policy on your company’s website can lead to suspicion among visitors. Website visitors tend to trust a company more if a privacy policy is displayed on the website. If you sell products on your website, buyers will feel more confident to provide personal and financial data if Privacy Policy is clearly evident on the website.

Improve quality of information collected

Improved confidence and reduced concerns in-turn improves the quality of data that is collected by your website. Customers feel assured and tend to provide correct information. If on the other hand customers are in-secure and unsure, they will provide incorrect or incomplete information in the forms.

Show compliance with laws and regulations

Privacy policy on a website assures customers that their personal information will be protected in accordance with data protection laws.