The GDPR stipulates that if your business deals with customers in the EU (including the UK despite Brexit), whether for business transactions or data processing, you will need to comply with their Data Protection Officer (DPO) requirements. The job of the Data Protection Officer is to safeguard personal information gathered through transactions with EU customers. This includes any sensitive information that could range from credit card information to something that can help you identify a person’s ethnicity, location, religion, sexual orientation, etc.
The GDPR stipulates that all public authorities and private companies that are involved in large-scale, regular data processing of EU residents comply with these regulations. If you are unsure whether your company fits this description, the best course of action is to seek legal counsel as the repercussions for failing to adhere could be severe. More information about data processing officers can be found here.
If you need to hire a DPO, you must include their contact information in your website’s privacy policy. Here is a sample of what their contact information could look like in your privacy policy:
The data protection officer of this company is:
Name of the individual(s) responsible
15 Broad Street
POST CODE
Tel: (telephone number)
Email: sample@email.com
Many free online solutions provide assistance for generating privacy policies for websites such as the solution from Rocket Lawyer. Existing templates are available, and it is easy to find one that is suitable for your needs with a simple Google search. Prewritten samples are a further option. These include valuable information on the protection of user data, and can be applied to social networks, cookies, or newsletters. This gives users the added advantage of receiving data protection statements from Google Analytics or other analysis tools. These are delivered in filled-out forms and include links for users who object to their data being delivered to third parties.
In addition to the many templates that are available, some websites also offer free privacy policy generators, which assemble sample texts to produce a final statement. The result is usually given as an HTML code.
Templates and generators make it easy to draft an adequate privacy policy for your website. However, it is important to take care and ensure that the results are relevant. Samples can provide a great basis for your statement, although there are often details that need changing or elaborating on. If you are unsure whether your privacy policy is correct, it is advisable to seek advice from a legal expert.
