Privacy and You!

That is a great resource Tim 

I have been meaning to make a privacy policy for my site for some time, but never quite got around to it!

I have a few questions if you would be so knid to answer-

1. I have a phpbb forum on my site that uses cookies, but I am not sure what to put where it lists the sites cookies?

2. My web hosting company is 1and1 uk, but the server is based in Germany, does the privacy policy still stand in Germany?

3. Where it says "If you feel the matter has not be dealt with correctly you can contact the following organisations XXXXX & XXXXX" I have no idea what to put here?

4. I have google adsense on my site, should this be mentioned in the privacy policy?

Thanks in advance

chez

glad you liked it,

1)PHPBB uses php sessions for anonymous tracking I believe and only uses cookies for those logged in so something to the effect,

Our forum software tracks user actions anonymously and places a cookie to allow personalised services for those who have chosen to register and opt into the site.

2) you will need to indicate both countries so

...This site is governed by all the rules and regulation of the United Kingdom and is hosted Germany...

This site tracks data in accordance with laws of United Kingdom  this site collects logs which include IP address but does not collect personally identifiable data from visitors without seeking their consent in the form of registration, the server logs are used to track problems within the site however the information is made available to police and other authorities in the host country Germany and the UK as dictated by local laws.

3) Probably best to place an address people can write, to and also for the UK include a link to the ICO office who are the ultimate authority

4) nope adsense doesn't use cookies and the user has to opt in (i.e click the link) before data is transmitted you should be declaring them as external links though

hope that helped.

This answer helped me out as well. I see I have some updating to do.

Thanks very much Tim 

I'll get this sorted in the next few days.

Thanks again for your help

I think I have sorted the privacy policy now- http://www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk/privacy_policy.htm

Just one more question-

Does it matter how many links you have to the privacy policy, is one link on the homepage ok, or should it be at the footer of every page?

Thanks in advance

chez

Excellent question it is at this point I shall put my "I'm not a lawyer" hat on.

The reason is its incredible vague so I'm suggesting a rough guideline if you need anything more concrete then visit a lawyer.

beware this is now very much UK specific----

If you are a limited company then you must place your registration number, full company name and link to a privacy document on ever page. This is not because of the Data protection or retention rules but because of the E-commerce Regulations (they came into force in the UK in 2002) you should also be including your registration number in all Electronic communication.

For everybody else is covered under a more grey cloud, you need to provide access to your privacy document whenever the user is presented with a choice, either to opt in or out obvious things would be during signups for emails or registration, however it also includes Stats tracking as the user can choose to opt out (turn off cookies), now since users can arrive at any page on your site if your using cookie based stats you have to provide access to the policy on every page of the site.

I would therefore suggest that in 8/10 sites you would need it on every page, small SEO suggest make the links to the privacy no-follow on all but maybe 1 or 2 pages (such as register or sign ups)

Should have mentioned if the company is limited or has VAT number it needs to indicate that.

Also I should mention that UK limited companies have a  unique status in that UK law overrides all other country laws for UK limited companies, so if your site is hosted in California while the "site" may have to follow Californian laws and guidelines the company policies regarding the site must follow "UK law" this is becoming more common across the EU and generally makes life easier for companies though Lawyers may think overwise. It also means if your sued in California by a US company the worse that can happen is your servers will be shut down, until they lodge the case in the UK.

Thanks very much Tim,

I'll change it immediately and place a link at the footer of each page.

Thanks for your help with this!

Having a limited company in itself is a right pain in the butt to be honest as there is so much paperwork etc.

But it does offer some protection, should someone follow the advice on my site and try to sue- even though there is a disclaimer on there!

Anything involving company house is complicated and normally involves 40% more paperwork

I know some credit card and other affilitates require privacy policy. 
The only time I gave it much thought was to make some of my sites "appear" more authoritive, which can be beneficial.

Actually virtually ever country in the world requires web site owners to provide some sort of privacy disclosure (with it being backed up with fines and prison sentences in many EU countries) and Google Adsense requires a privacy policy so nearly every single site on the web should have one

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