We are piloting an alternative to normal privacy policies.
Currently, in the footer of a website, where you would expect to find a link to our privacy policy, you instead see a button to a Privacy Centre, and then you will see this:
The Privacy Centre, where you find our privacy policy and other information or controls
🕵️♀️ What are we looking at here?
- The name and contact details of our DPO — including a photograph. This section also explains what you can contact him about
- Some privacy values, which very quickly get across some key points: we don’t sell your data, we ask for consent first, and we only store what’s needed.
- Further down the page are data controls where you can: easily submit a subject access request (e.g. delete, change, or restrict your data), manage cookie consent, and view the privacy policy.
Why have we made this?
There are two main reasons why we’ve put this together, but it’s important to note that this is in no way a finished product; we are piloting this on our own site, and using it as a way to start a conversation.
☝️ Reason one: we are a company selling privacy and transparency solutions. In which case, we should practice what we preach and operate at a high standard — or even in a way that questions the current status quo. E.g. at the moment, privacy policies are long walls of text, smattered with technical jargon and legal speak. At Company, we wanted to give our site visitors and users something more accessible.
✌️ Reason two: now that it’s up and running on our site, we are using it as a starting point for our conversations with businesses. We’re talking to founders, developers, designers, and DPOs and asking them what they find useful about this concept, and what problems they wished it solved.
We’re learning a lot from having these discussions. For instance, it’s important to understand that privacy policies are there both to protect companies, and inform that users — that way we can build better ones.
Georgia Iacovou
Content Writer