Why it is Time to Update Your Privacy Policy

January 26, 2022

By: Shannon A. Knapp

In Bond’s January 25 Business in 2022 Webinar, cybersecurity and data privacy attorney Shannon A. Knapp, CIPP/US, recorded a short video discussing the importance of privacy policies given the rapidly changing data privacy legal landscape and consumers increased online presence.

Over the last couple of years, important consumer privacy laws, including the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) have been passed and gone into effect. Such laws have influenced other states and countries to follow suit with their own comprehensive consumer privacy laws. Although there is no general federal law that requires privacy policies, they are highly encouraged by the FTC and have becomes the standard feature of a legitimate commercial website, and many industry specific federal laws such as the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) require certain information disclosures. All these laws have resulted in increased obligations for organizations, and a privacy policy is one of the most important compliance and notice mechanisms to develop. 

Privacy policies are not a one size fit all document and should be drafted to comply with each organizations’ particular practices. Important information that is required to be in a privacy policy includes: notice about what information is being collected, how it is being collected (such as through voluntary disclosure or through automated means such as cookies), how the information is used, if the information will be shared and why, how the data is protected, as well as ways to opt out of such practices. Also, it is important to include the organizations contact information for consumers to use when they have questions or requests about their personal data.

If you have any questions about the information presented during the webinar, please contact Shannon Knapp, CIPP/US, or any other attorney in Bond’s Cybersecurity and Data Privacy practice. 

To view this webinar in its entirety, or to sign up for Bond's weekly COVID webinar series, click here.