4 Website Blunders to Avoid
Privacy policies have recently made many corporations nervous because of online policy mistakes that might be made. Take note of these four blunders that you should avoid and you will avoid getting into a legal and public relations nightmare.
Mistake 1: Choosing Style Over Substance
You may think that contracts are a bore and Web pages are generally full of legalities that violate everything that you have taken hours and days to build. Is it easier then to go with a simple terms of use and privacy policy that does not offend user sensibilities? The answer is no. The reason people have online policies is to protect their company. If they are simple, ambiguous or filled with loopholes, your company will not have enough cover. You need to have detailed privacy policy simply because you cannot summarize something so in depth.
The one thing to remember is clarity. Your policies should not be difficult to understand. Keep two things in mind:
The terms of use should tell your users how your site, app or service works, what kind of conduct is prohibited and that a user account can be terminated if terms are violated.
Your privacy policy should also explain in detail every single way you can handle the user’s data. Always focus on substance when it comes to your online policies.
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Mistake 2: You Don’t Ask Your Lawyer to Review the Policies
What we mentioned above are general rules to be followed. There will be many other little details special to your trade that you need to address too. A lawyer should be present for this, so he can help you tailor make the policies according to your business. You also want to make sure you are in line with the practices of the industry. A lawyer will have his own checklist for online policies and it is his job to keep this list updated regularly. Your lawyer can also keep you updated with laws that are constantly changing, so your policies are always updated. Hence as a Northern Virginia web design firm we always recommend our Northern Virginia clients to have these policies reviewed by their lawyers.
Mistake 3: You Never Update the Policies
Online policies are not something you draft, upload and forget about. Legal landscape, business model, and the identity of your use base – these are all things that keep changing. It is advisable to check with your lawyer regularly to see if your policies need changing. You can keep your company well protected when you do this regularly.
Mistake 4: You Don’t Have an Effective Response System in Place
One thing many companies fail to do is to have a very good response procedure in place. If your customers have a problem or a dispute they need to voice out, make sure they can reach you easily to settle it. Having a great set of online policies is pretty useless if people can’t reach you to enforce them. Our website designer for small business always recommend adding features in your website that make it easy to communicate with user customers and users.
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