Companies utilize Privacy Policies as a way of being transparent to their users and customers about how their personal information will be used, with or without their knowledge.
Websites and apps have Privacy Policies that are available to their customers and site visitors. These policies display what personal information is being gathered, such as:
Let's take a look at the California Online Privacy Protection Act (CalOPPA) as an example:
"Operator of a commercial Web site or online service" is a very wide spectrum or people, and includes app developers.
CalOPPA has a wide reach, and even if your site isn't operated in California, it could impact how you collect personal information from users who reside in California, so CalOPPA will likely extend to you wherever you are.
Personal data means any information that relates to an identifiable natural person; a person who can be identified, directly or indirectly, by a reference to a personal identification number or to factors the specify physical, mental, physiologic, cultural, economic, or social identity.
For Amazon Affiliates, your users will need to be informed of:
Generally, most laws require that your users are informed of:
1. Personal data and third-party disclosure
Your users need to know that you'll never sell their personal data and that you'll only disclose it to third parties to improve service.
Here is an example from Apple:
2. Acquisition by another company - Business Transfer Clause
There is always the possibility that any commercial entity may be acquired by another company. The users should know what will happen to their personal information if such an acquisition were to take place.
If you intend to one day sell your business or think it might be possible, it's important to include a Business Transfer clause in the privacy agreement.
Here's an example of a Business Transfer Clause from Chartbeat:
3. Cookie Practices
Cookies are everywhere and almost all third parties used on your website could be serving cookies on a user device.
It's very important that you make sure your users are notified that they are receiving cookies from you or a third parity partners.
Cookies can be a confusing concept to your users, so it's helpful to inform users of the following:
Google Analytics offers an opt-out browser add-on that helps to make it convenient for their users to opt-out.
4. Commercial Emails
Every email you send needs to have an unsubscribe link.
The bottom of every email is a great place to place include the "Unsubscribe" link, as you've likely seen before in your own inbox.
5. Contact Us
Any legal agreement needs to be accessible to all users, without them having to click through multiples pages of your website to find it.
Here's an example from Upwork's footer.
You don't want to risk losing your affiliate ad networks, be sued by a customer or get fines for violating international privacy laws.