Some business owners wonder whether or not their company needs a privacy policy. Putting a privacy policy in place may seem like a hassle, so it is understandable that some people put this off or simply assume they don’t need one.
How do you know whether you need a privacy policy? The simple answer is that if you collect any kind of personal data, you are obliged by law to provide certain information which is normally included in a privacy policy/notice. This could be as little as taking people’s names and email addresses when they submit an enquiry to your website. If you plan to send out marketing or newsletter emails to anyone, you need to have their explicit consent.
The size of your business does not free you from the requirement to follow UK privacy and data protection laws. Even if you are a sole trader or running a very small business, you remain obliged to have a privacy policy in place.
A privacy policy does not need to be too complicated, though. There are some essential bits of information you need to include, like your company’s name and contact details, and what you’ll be using the collected data for. It can be tempting to just copy and paste a privacy policy from another business, but this is risky. Every business is different, and someone else’s policy probably won’t cover quite the same things that your business needs. On top of this, using someone else’s privacy policy could also be a copyright violation!
As you’d expect, the safest way to get a proper privacy policy in place is to get professional legal help. There are free templates available online if you do intend to draft your own policy, but this still isn’t ideal – tailoring the template to your specific needs could be a challenge.
If you’re interested in getting a privacy policy in place, or you’d like to review your current policy, contact Henry at Claric Legal Services by emailing henry@clariclegal.co.uk, or calling or texting +44 7951 618366.
This should not be relied upon for legal advice.
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