If your business has a website, you should take website privacy seriously. And no, this isn’t just something that applies to large corporations like Amazon or Facebook.
Whether you’re a plumber, roofer, restaurant owner, real estate agent, or local service provider, your website may be collecting information about your visitors without you even realizing it.
Think about it. Do you have a contact form? Google Analytics? An Instagram feed embedded on your website? Perhaps a Facebook Pixel to track visitors for advertising?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, it’s time to pay attention to your website’s privacy policies. Let’s look at three reasons why your small business needs a Privacy Policy, Terms of Service, and Cookie Policy, and how you can get them taken care of without spending hours researching legal requirements.
1. You may have legal obligations to disclose how you collect data
Here’s a common misconception: “I’m just a small business. Privacy laws don’t apply to me.” Unfortunately, that’s not necessarily true.
Privacy requirements depend on where your business operates, where your website visitors live, what information you collect, and which services you use. Some laws apply to businesses of all sizes, while others have specific revenue, data-volume, or other thresholds.
For example, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), establishes privacy rights for eligible California residents and obligations for businesses that meet its applicability criteria. Other states have enacted their own privacy laws, each with different requirements.
But here’s the important part: you don’t have to sell products online or collect credit card information to have privacy obligations. Consider a few everyday examples:
- Contact forms: a potential customer submits their name, email address, phone number, and details about a plumbing repair.
- Google Analytics: you track website visits, traffic sources, device information, and how visitors interact with your pages.
- Instagram feeds: you embed your Instagram posts on your website, potentially allowing third-party services to collect information about visitors.
- Facebook Pixel (Meta Pixel): you track website activity to measure advertising performance or build audiences for future campaigns.
- Appointment scheduling: you use a third-party service to let customers book consultations or service appointments.
These tools can involve collecting, processing, or sharing information about website visitors. Your privacy obligations depend on the specific tools, settings, data involved, and applicable laws.
A Privacy Policy explains what information your website collects, how it’s used, and which third parties may receive it. It helps visitors understand what happens to their information when they interact with your business online.
Don’t assume your website is exempt just because you’re a small business. Take the time to understand your obligations.
2. Your website may track visitors even when you aren’t collecting information directly
This is where things get interesting. You might think you’re only collecting information when someone fills out your contact form. But modern websites can collect or transmit information through embedded content, analytics tools, advertising technologies, and cookies. Let’s look at three common examples.
Google Analytics
Google Analytics helps you understand how people find and use your website. You can see which pages get the most traffic, how visitors arrive at your site, and how they interact with your content. That’s useful information for improving your website and marketing.
However, analytics tools also process data about visitors, such as device information, page views, and online interactions. Depending on the implementation and settings, additional information may be collected or shared. Your Privacy Policy should accurately describe your use of analytics and the relevant data practices. Learn more about how websites collect and use information.
Instagram feeds and other embedded content
Have an Instagram feed on your homepage? Perhaps you embed YouTube videos, Google Maps, or other third-party content. These features can make your website more useful and engaging. However, they may also connect your visitors to services operated by other companies.
Depending on the implementation, third-party services may receive information such as a visitor’s IP address, browser information, or details about their interaction with embedded content. Your website might not be the only party processing that information.
Facebook Pixel and advertising tracking
If you run Facebook or Instagram ads, you may have installed Meta Pixel to measure conversions and understand how visitors interact with your website. For example, a visitor might browse your roofing services page, leave your website, and later see an advertisement for your business on Facebook. That’s the general idea behind advertising retargeting.
Tracking technologies can send information about page views, clicks, purchases, and other website activity to third parties. The precise information depends on how the tracking tool is configured. The Federal Trade Commission has highlighted privacy concerns associated with tracking pixels and the information they can transmit.
The bottom line: just because you don’t directly ask for someone’s personal information doesn’t mean your website isn’t processing or sharing data about them. A Privacy Policy helps explain these practices. Depending on your visitors, applicable laws, and tracking technologies, you may also need a Cookie Policy and a way to get consent before certain cookies or tracking technologies are activated.
3. Privacy policies and website terms help protect your business
Let’s talk about the business side of things. Your website represents your company. It tells potential customers who you are, what you do, and how they can work with you. But have you considered what happens when a visitor wants to know how their information is handled? Or when someone misunderstands what your website’s content means?
Clear website policies help establish expectations and demonstrate that your business takes its online responsibilities seriously. Here’s what each document does.
Privacy Policy
Your Privacy Policy explains how your business collects, uses, stores, and shares personal information. It may address:
- Information collected through contact forms and other website features.
- Analytics and advertising technologies.
- Third-party services used by your website.
- How visitors can exercise applicable privacy rights.
- How visitors can contact you with privacy questions.
Terms of Service
Terms of Service (sometimes called Terms and Conditions) establish rules for using your website or services. Depending on your business, they may address acceptable website use, intellectual property, disclaimers, limitations of liability, and other terms relevant to your activities.
For a business that sells products, accepts bookings, or provides services online, appropriate terms can help clarify the relationship between the business and its customers. However, website terms aren’t a substitute for a signed service agreement when your business needs one.
Cookie Policy
Cookies are small pieces of data that websites can store in a visitor’s browser. They can support basic website functions, remember preferences, measure traffic, or help deliver targeted advertising. A Cookie Policy explains the cookies and similar technologies used on your website, their purposes, and other disclosures appropriate to your setup. Depending on the technologies you use and the laws that apply, you may also need a cookie consent banner or other consent controls.
Important: simply publishing these documents doesn’t automatically make your website compliant. Your policies need to accurately reflect your website’s actual practices, and any required consent mechanisms must be implemented correctly.
How do you get these policies without spending a fortune?
You have a few options. You could hire an attorney to draft customized policies for your business. That’s worth considering when your business has complex data practices, industry-specific obligations, or significant legal exposure. You could also try to write everything yourself. However, privacy laws and requirements can be complicated, and keeping up with changes takes time. Another option is to use a dedicated privacy policy generator and compliance service.
Meet Termageddon
At Pioneer Media, I want my clients to have the tools they need to operate their websites responsibly without having to become legal experts themselves. That’s why I’m offering Termageddon, a service that helps businesses generate and maintain website policies based on their business practices and applicable requirements. Termageddon can help you create policies such as:
- Privacy Policies
- Terms and Conditions
- Cookie Policies
- Other legal disclosures, depending on your subscription and needs
One of its useful features is ongoing updates. When relevant legal requirements change, Termageddon can notify you and provide updated policy language through its service. You can learn more at Termageddon.com.
It’s important to understand that Termageddon is a compliance tool, not a law firm, and using it doesn’t guarantee compliance with every law or eliminate legal risk. Your website still needs to be configured properly, and your policies need to reflect what your business actually does. For businesses with more complicated requirements, professional legal advice may still be appropriate.
Let’s get your website’s policies taken care of
Your website is more than a digital business card. It’s a tool that helps you attract customers, answer questions, collect inquiries, and grow your business. If you’re using contact forms, Google Analytics, embedded social media feeds, advertising pixels, or other third-party services, it’s worth reviewing your privacy practices. Here’s what I recommend we do together:
- Review your website. Identify the forms, analytics tools, embedded content, cookies, and other services you’re using.
- Establish the right policies. Determine which privacy disclosures and website terms your business needs.
- Implement them correctly. Publish accurate policies, add the appropriate links to your website, and configure any required cookie consent controls.
- Keep them current. Use a service that auto-updates your policies whenever laws and applicable requirements change.
What will this cost?
For $295 one-time, we will set up your Termageddon account to create an auto-updating Privacy Policy, Terms of Service and Cookie Policy and integrate them with your website. This requires a phone conversation to set up your account together using information unique to your business.
Next, $10 will be added to your monthly maintenance plan, which is paid directly to Termageddon each month. No up-charge, no other fees, and you will have policies that automatically update as software and laws evolve.
Ready to get started?
Pioneer Media can help you get your website policies in place with Termageddon. Whether you’re an existing website maintenance client or you’re considering a new website, contact me and we’ll discuss the right solution for your business.
About the author
Leighton Smith is Pioneer Media’s website designer, web developer and webmaster, based in East Tennessee. As a solopreneur, he is each client’s one point of contact and has built hundreds of websites since learning to code in 2006.
