Privacy in 60 seconds or less

Most of us click the “I agree” checkbox as quickly as possible. Take the time to look at a website's privacy policy. Around 1 minute is probably good enough for most policies, depending on the length & complexity.

If a privacy policy looks like it’s copied from somewhere else or it is written with words you cannot understand, then you should take a little more time to understand what it is you are agreeing to. Try not to be lazy, you should care about your privacy.

Keywords & action words

The idea behind quickly understanding a long complex document is by searching for specific keywords. Then you look for specific action words in the section where the keyword was found. Be sure to use your keyboard shortcuts (CTRL+F or COMMAND+F) to search in your browser.

Now, let's discuss some specific keywords and actions words to look for in each privacy policy.

Collecting and storing your data

The fundamental reason for a privacy policy is to explain how a website collects and stores your data. Search for keywords like “email, e-mail, name, phone” and look for action words like “collect, store, process” in that section to understand what happens with your personal data.

Access to your information

Major search engines and social media giants are on this list. Search for keywords like “Google, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Bing, Yahoo, analytics, 3rd party, third party” and look for action words like “tracking, storage, transactions, sell”.

How other services use your data is important as you are not only providing your personal data to the website you use but also to those 3rd party services.

What if you close your account?

Check if there is a section explaining what happens to your data if you decide to close or remove your account. Search for keywords like “close, remove, delete” and look for action words like “removed, moved, days, hours, flagged”.

Does the data get removed or does the website keep it around? How long will the site store your information? If you can't find this section, email the website and ask them why there is no section about this. Many websites ignore this section and ask you to e-mail them to close your account.

Privacy policy last updated date

If the date is not visible near the main heading, search for keywords like “last update, modified, created, (your current year, example: 2019)” and no action words are needed here as this is most likely a single sentence.

A very old date means the website may not care too much but a recent date means the website periodically maintains their privacy policy. The website should email you when the privacy policy gets updated. Many websites also update their users via their social media channels.

If you use WeArePrivacy you will also get a notification automatically when a website updates their privacy policy, without you having to do any work on your end.

Contact information exists

Search for keywords like “@, contact, email, e-mail, address” and see if there is a way you can contact the website when you have a question or a concern about the their privacy policy.

You wasted time and frustrated

You are probably not the only one who is confused. If you find yourself overwhelmed while looking at the privacy policy it means it’s too long and confusing. Stop and email the website to complain or ping them on WeArePrivacy. If enough people do this they will eventually update the privacy policy to make it more clear.

Write to them on Twitter, like we have been doinghere,here, andhere.

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