Copying Privacy Policies: A Costly Compliance Mistake

One of the first things many businesses do when launching a website or mobile application is add a privacy policy. Unfortunately, many also make one of the biggest compliance mistakes at the very beginning. Instead of preparing a privacy policy that reflects how their own organization processes personal data, they simply copy one from another website, make a few cosmetic changes, and publish it. It seems harmless. After all, a privacy policy is just another legal document, right? Not quite.

A privacy policy is not a generic template or website decoration. It is a legal statement that explains how an organization collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data. It tells people what happens to their information after they hand it over to a business. When that statement is copied from another organisation, it often tells the wrong story.