Deena Burgess
Law Offices of Deena Burgess - Managing PartnerNew York,
http://www.ebusinesslawgroup.com
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You're so careful about making sure your business is legal. I know you are. You don't cut corners; you don't fly by the seat of your pants.
You can't. If your business fails, it could cost not only your business, but your family as well.
So, I have a couple of questions for you.
Do you have a newsletter? You have a signup page right? Do you have a contact form on your website where you collect information from potential customers? Do you collect any customer information on your website?
If you've answered yes to any of these questions (and you know you did), you need to have a privacy policy.
So, do you have one?
If so, excellent!
If not, why the heck not? "Too much money," you say?
In that case, perhaps you are not aware that you are in violation of California law by not having one.
The California Online Privacy Protection Act (CA Business and Professions Code 22575-22579) requires that any commercial entity that collects any "personally identifiable information" from any resident of the State of California must have a link to their privacy policy on their home page.
Personally identifiable information can include, but is not limited to, name, address, email address, telephone number, social security number, credit card number and any other information that would allow someone to contact a consumer in California either on or offline.
Violations of this Act are dealt with under California's Unfair Competition Laws (which, in addition to the joy of getting to participate in a lawsuit with the regulatory agencies in California, can carry a penalty of $2,500 per violation).
Don't you think it pays to have one?
And before anyone asks me if the free ones you find on the internet are ok, I'll tell you this... Free privacy policies are worth about what you paid for them and all of the ones that I've seen don't comply with the requirements of California law. I have a blog post (read: rant) on the topic if you're interested.
It never ceases to amaze me how many really substantial, well run companies forget to do this. I don't know what other lawyers charge for a privacy policy, but I'm relatively certain that I charge less than the amount of Tylenol it would take to ride out a lawsuit from the State of California.
If you're not in compliance, get there now. Before you have a headache that you can't afford.
Read Deena's other blog entries >
Are You Unwittingly Violating The Law?
