Let's face it, even a well-crafted, compliant Privacy Policy is never going to be choice-reading by your customers. But is it a legal requirement and one which can be used as the foundation for building trust and understanding between you and your customers.
Infamous studies have shown it would take an average user almost 250 hours a year to read the Privacy Policies on all of the websites they visit. Going into chapter and verse on the details about the collection and use of data by your organisation may meet the legal requirements but it does nothing to advance the relationship you have with your customers.
So just how can you use this legal requirement as a step in the journey to build trust?
There are specific requirements prescribed by the Information Commissioner on what a Privacy Policy needs to contain.
Your Privacy Policy should be written in such a way that a child can understand it, so keep it clear and concise and avoid jargon. Readability is based on short sentences using words with as few syllables as possible. Writing a tome may be necessary, but breaking it up into digestible chunks will help achieve an acceptable Reading Ease Score for each part.
We've developed a checker using the Flesch Reading Ease Score formula for you to perfect your statement. It should only be used as a rough guide to how readable your paragraphs are but we aim for a score of 60 or above which should be understood by a 13-year old.
This is a statement of intent in your relationship with your customers. Choose an appropriate tone of voice to reflect the relationship you want to start.
At any point where you are interacting with the customer, it's good practice to highlight that data is being collected or processed and letting them know, then and there any of the salient points from the Privacy Policy. Signing up to a direct marketing newsletter under the basis of consent is a clear opportunity to remind a user of the Privacy Policy.