Researchers at Carnegie Mellon recently figured out it would take twenty five days to read every internet privacy policy we encounter. To clarify, in our day-to-day surfing and checking e-mail, if we were to stop and read all the policies we’d eat up almost one month.
I was hopping between stores and had the radio blaring one morning when I heard one of the announcers quote the study. I was astonished and truly believed they were reporting it incorrectly. Based on my in-depth Google search when I pulled into my office I found the study and, truly, it is quoted as twenty five days.
I can think of one privacy statement I’ve read in the past ten years and that’s Google’s. I’m a user of Gmail, Android and Google search and wanted to understand exactly how much personal information I was relinquishing. Turns out, all the fuss about Google sharing my information wasn’t as bad as the press led me to believe.
Most of the time (I would say all of the time) people don’t read the statements prior to pushing the “OK” button. Unfortunately some of the privacy statements for websites contain statements like “we will share your information with a third party.” These are the websites that sell your e-mail and mailing addresses to others. Some also install third-party software to harvest your data.
Privacy statements (or policies) outline exactly how a website gets your data and specifically what they do with it once it’s in their hands. Typically, a well written policy instructs the user of the level of confidentiality your personal data will be maintained. Most policies that deal with user content also include provisions for external links, copyright, and an acceptance of terms.
Those who purchase online understand privacy policies and have come to appreciate vendors who use them. I do a ton of online transactions and no longer purchase from smaller companies with websites. If a website doesn’t have a privacy policy I refuse to purchase from them. Although I never bother reading the policies, I firmly believe that if a company transacts business online, it should have a policy in place.
Policies not only protect visitors and customers of the site, they also protect the site owners. Because a policy indicates exactly how the collected data will be used; if a user agrees to the statement then they are agreeing to your contract. It’s good business to include a clear and concise statement and stick to it. Whether the item is a pair of socks or a used car, anytime a website collects data there needs to be a policy.
About four years ago I made a purchase through an online vendor I hadn’t dealt with prior. I purchased several items totaling under $100.00. I thought about it after I inputted my information and realized the website didn’t publish a privacy statement. In fact, I inputted my credit information over an insecure webpage. About a month later I had a $400.00 fraudulent charge from another company. Although the credit card company didn’t disclose the name, they did disclose the address which matched this company.
Websites like Google, Microsoft, eBay, and Amazon have privacy policies written by teams of high priced attorneys. They are designed to protect the company and not the user. Smaller websites aren’t necessarily evil though. Many use larger companies like Yahoo!, PayPal and VeriSign to process the personal data. These larger sites offer convenience to smaller companies while protecting personal data. Rest assured, they too have their own team of overpriced attorneys to write privacy policies.
(Jeromy Patriquin is the President of Laptop & Computer Repair, Inc. located at 509 Main St. in Gardner. You can text him at (978) 413-2840 or call him directly at (978) 919-8059.)