Few people regularly do, and no surprise. The typical privacy policy is about 2,500 words \u2014 roughly a 10-minute read \u2014 sometimes, with enough legalese to make Perry Mason wince.<\/p>\n
Considering the typical American visits nearly 1,500 websites a year \u2014 each with a different privacy policy \u2014 it would take about 250 hours to completely read each, estimate Carnegie Mellon researchers. Just skimming all those privacy policies would take about 154 hours, nearly a full week of nonstop reading.<\/p>\n
A privacy policy is a statement or legal disclosure that details how the website gathers, uses, manages and shares its customers\u2019 information: what personal or financial data is collected, why it\u2019s collected and what is done with it. This information could be your name and email address, credit card account, shopping or searching habits, even a compete dossier of your smartphone use.<\/p>\n While reading those privacy policies may not be fun, they can be important. Some tips to tackle them without overtaxing your brain or time, according to the Center for Identity at the University of Texas at Austin:<\/p>\n 1. A privacy policy should answer these six questions, says Center for Identity researcher Rachel German:<\/p>\n 2. To hone on answers to those specific questions, German recommends using the manual search or \u201cfind\u201d option on your browser to find key phrases. She suggests phrases such as \u201cemail,\u201d \u201cmarketing,\u201d \u201carbitration,\u201d \u201cwaive\u201d or \u201cwaiver,\u201d \u201cthird-party,\u201d \u201caffiliate(s),\u201d and \u201copt-out.\u201d Also search the policy for any words and phrases in boldface<\/strong> or all UPPERCASE. Those tend to be important disclosures.<\/p>\n 3. Consider an add-on to do the legwork. Released by the Center for Identity, PrivacyCheck is a free extension for Google Chrome that uses a data mining algorithm to provide a graphical, \u201cat-a-glance\u201d look at the ways in which companies use their customers\u2019 personal data. Other companies offer enrollment-based services that search privacy policies and highlight pertinent information.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Read full article and learn more about Privacy Policy here<\/a>.<\/p>\n By now it should be clear how important it is for you to be FTC compliant. But how can you do that without spending $7,500-$8,000 or more on Internet Attorneys?<\/p>\n Smart business owners around the world are doing it with the help ofFTC Guardian.<\/p>\n FTC Guardian is a service that is 100% focused on helping to keep you get and stay FTC compliant and fully protected. And right now, we are offering a free training to give you the knowledge, information, and guidance that you need to stay out of trouble with the Federal Trade Commission.<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"\/images\/button_banner-Data_Broker.png\")
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