Privacy Policy
Notes for Jo
This page explains how your website collects, uses, stores, and protects personal data from visitors and customers.​Personal data can include names, email addresses, payment details, and other information that identifies an individual.
I do not draft Privacy Policies and nothing on this page should be considered legal advice.
You should create your own policy or seek professional guidance to ensure it complies with relevant laws, including the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act.
​
The Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk provides guidance on data protection, which is relevant for all websites that collect or process personal data.​ For help creating a Privacy Policy, reputable tools such as Termly or iubenda can provide a practical starting point, especially for small businesses.
​
Best practice for Privacy Policies (for guidance only)
​
The following points are commonly included in Privacy Policies. This list is for general guidance and should not be taken as legal advice.
​
Explain what personal data is collected and how it is collected.
Detail the purposes for which personal data is used.
Identify any third parties who may have access to personal data.
Explain how personal data is stored and protected.
Describe users' rights under data protection laws, including access, correction, deletion, and withdrawal of consent.
Explain how cookies and similar tracking technologies interact with personal data.
Include procedures for handling data breaches.
Provide contact details for data protection questions or complaints.
State how long personal data is retained.
Keep the policy updated as your data handling practices change.
A legal disclaimer
The explanations and information provided on this page are only general and high-level explanations and information on how to write your own document of a Privacy Policy. You should not rely on this article as legal advice or as recommendations regarding what you should actually do, because we cannot know in advance what are the specific privacy policies you wish to establish between your business and your customers and visitors. We recommend that you seek legal advice to help you understand and to assist you in the creation of your own Privacy Policy.
Privacy Policy - the basics
Having said that, a privacy policy is a statement that discloses some or all of the ways a website collects, uses, discloses, processes, and manages the data of its visitors and customers. It usually also includes a statement regarding the website’s commitment to protecting its visitors’ or customers’ privacy, and an explanation about the different mechanisms the website is implementing in order to protect privacy.
Different jurisdictions have different legal obligations of what must be included in a Privacy Policy. You are responsible to make sure you are following the relevant legislation to your activities and location.
What to include in the Privacy Policy
Generally speaking, a Privacy Policy often addresses these types of issues: the types of information the website is collecting and the manner in which it collects the data; an explanation about why is the website collecting these types of information; what are the website’s practices on sharing the information with third parties; ways in which your visitors and customers can exercise their rights according to the relevant privacy legislation; the specific practices regarding minors’ data collection; and much, much more.
To learn more about this, check out our article “Creating a Privacy Policy”.