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How to Construct Your Privacy Policy

Constructing a privacy policy is a simple process. Simply fill out the questions below and submit it to us - we'll send you a Web page to post to your site.

Consumer notification of information policies is a basic element of a direct and interactive marketer's information practices. DMA believes that all marketers operating online sites should make available their information policies to consumers in a prominent place.

On this page, Webmasters and administrators can complete a questionnaire (basing their answers on their site information policies) and create a privacy policy statement to be posted on their own Web page. This tool has been developed to help marketers create policies that are consistent with The DMA's Privacy Principles for Online Marketing.

Based on your company's information policies, either fill in the blank or select the proper response to each of the following questions. Your privacy policy statement will then be emailed to you for final editing and posting to your Website. (Note: If one or more of the below statements does not apply to your practices, you may leave that section blank and it will not appear on the draft statement that we send to you). You can edit the statement once you receive it.

Privacy Policy Tips: Keep It Simple.

  • Make the policy easy to read, easy to understand and easy to find on your Website.

  • Promote your policy internally in employee communications. Consumers are concerned about this issue, and your employees should know how your company responds to those concerns.

  • Promote your policy with key stakeholders, including customers, investors, contributors, and policymakers. Privacy policies put consumers in charge of their information.

  • Update your policy as needed to stay current with changes in your business.

*Special note for marketers who collect personally identifiable information from California Residents via Websites or online services.

Effective July 2004, the California Online Privacy Protection Act requires operators of a commercial Website or online service that collect Personally Identifiable Information from California residents through the Internet to conspicuously post a privacy policy on their Website that complies with prescribed disclosures. The privacy policy must:

(1) identify the categories of Personally Identifiable Information that the operator collects through the Website or online service and the categories of third-party persons or entities with whom the operator may share Personally Identifiable Information;

(2) describe how a consumer can review and make changes to his or her personally identifiable information, if the operator allows such review and changes;

(3) describe how consumers can learn of changes in the operator’s privacy policy; and

(4) identify the effective date of the privacy policy.

The questions marked with an asterisk are designed to elicit information from such companies to assist them with compliance obligations in connection with this law.

Create Your Privacy Policy Now:

1. Identity of the Website Administrators
(Fill in the blanks)

This is the Website of   Company Name
Our postal address is   Address
Our location   City, State, Zip
We can be reached via  email at   email
Or you can reach us by  telephone at   Phone
*This Policy is effective on:   Insert effective date of policy

2. For each visitor to our Web page, our Web server automatically recognizes...
(choose one)

the consumer's domain name and email address (where possible)
only the consumer's domain name, but not the email address (where possible)
no information regarding the domain or email address
other 

*3. We collect...
(choose all that apply)

only the domain name, but not the email address of visitors to our Web page
the domain name and email address (where possible) of visitors to our Web page
the email addresses of those who post messages to our bulletin board
the email addresses of those who communicate with us via email
the email addresses of those who make postings to our chat areas
aggregate information on what pages consumers access or visit
user-specific information on what pages consumers access or visit
information volunteered by the consumer, such as preferences, survey information and/or site registrations
name and address
telephone number
fax number
payment information (e.g., credit card number and billing address)
no information on consumers who browse our Web page.
other 

*4. The information we collect is...
(choose all that apply)

used for internal review and is then discarded
used to improve the content of our Web page
used to customize the content and/or layout of our page for each individual visitor
used to notify visitors about updates to our Website
shared with agents or contractors who assist in providing support for our internal operations
used by us to contact consumers for marketing purposes
shared with other reputable organizations to help them contact consumers for marketing purposes
not shared with other organizations for commercial purposes.
disclosed when legally required to do so, at the request of governmental authorities conducting an investigation, to verify or enforce compliance with the policies governing our Website and applicable laws, or to protect against misuse or unauthorized use of our Website
to a successor entity in connection with a corporate merger, consolidation, sale of assets, or other corporate change respecting the Website
other

5. With respect to cookies,

We do not set any cookies
We use cookies to . . .
(choose all that apply)

store visitors preferences
record session information, such as items that consumers add to their shopping cart.
record user-specific information on what pages users access or visit
alert visitors to new areas that we think might be of interest to them when they return to our site
to record past activity at a site in order to provide better service when visitors return to our site
ensure that visitors are not repeatedly sent the same banner ads
customize Web page content on visitors’ browser type or other information that the visitor sends
other

6. If you do not want to receive email from us in the future, please let us know by...
(choose all that apply)

sending us email at the above address
calling us at the above telephone number
writing to us at the above address
visiting the following URL
other (please explain)

... and telling us that you do not want to receive email from our company.

7. From time to time, we make the email addresses of those who access our site available to other reputable organizations whose products or services we think you might find interesting. If you do not want us to share your email address with other companies or organizations, please let us know by...
(choose all that apply)

sending us email at the above address
calling us at the above telephone number
writing to us at the above address
visiting the following URL
other (please explain)

... and telling us that you do not want us to share your email address with other companies.

8. From time to time, we make our customer email list available to other reputable organizations whose products or services we think you might find interesting. If you do not want us to share your email address with other companies or organizations, please let us know by...
(choose all that apply)

sending us email at the above address
calling us at the above telephone number
writing to us at the above address
visiting the following URL
other (please explain)

9. If you supply us with your postal address on-line....
(choose either option 1 or a combination of options 2 and 3)

(1) you will only receive the information for which you provided us your address

(2) you may receive periodic mailings from us with information on new products and services or upcoming events.
If you do not wish to receive such mailings, please let us know by
(choose all that apply)

sending us email at the above address
calling us at the above telephone number
writing to us at the above address
visiting the following URL
other (please explain)

(3) you may receive mailings from other reputable companies. You can, however, have your name put on our do-not-share list by
(choose all that apply)

sending us email at the above address
calling us at the above telephone number
writing to us at the above address
visiting the following URL
other (please explain)

Please provide us with your exact name and address. We will be sure your name is removed from the list we share with other organizations.

10. Persons who supply us with their telephone numbers on-line....
(choose all that apply)

will only receive telephone contact from us with information regarding orders they have placed on-line.
may receive telephone contact from us with information regarding new products and services or upcoming events. If you do not wish to receive such telephone calls, please let us know by..
(choose all that apply).

sending us email at the above address
calling us at the above telephone number
writing to us at the above address
visiting the following URL
other (please explain)
may receive telephone contact from other reputable companies. You can, however, have your name put on our do-not-share list by
(choose all that apply).
sending us email at the above address
calling us at the above telephone number
writing to us at the above address
visiting the following URL
other (please explain)

Please provide us with your name and phone number. We will be sure your name is removed from the list we share with other organizations.

11. Ad Servers
(Choose one)

We do not partner with or have special relationships with any ad server companies
To try and bring you offers that are of interest to you, we have relationships with other companies that we allow to place ads on our Web pages. As a result of your visit to our site, ad server companies may collect information such as your domain type, your IP address, and clickstream information. For further information, consult the privacy policies of:

(Please list the URLs for the privacy statements of the ad server companies with whom you have contracted or partnered)

*12. From time to time, we may use customer information for new, unanticipated uses not previously disclosed in our privacy notice. If our information practices change at some time in the future:
(choose all that apply)

we will contact you before we use your data for these new purposes to notify you of the policy change and to provide you with the ability to opt out of these new uses
we will post the policy changes to our Website to notify you of these changes and provide you with the ability to opt out of these new uses. If you are concerned about how your information is used, you should check back at our Website periodically.
we will post the policy changes to our Website to notify you of these changes and we will use for these new purposes only data collected from the time of the policy change forward. If you are concerned about how your information is used, you should check back at our Website periodically
Other (insert means of communicating updates to privacy policy)

Customers may prevent their information from being used for purposes other than those for which it was originally collected by:

sending us email at the above address
calling us at the above telephone number
writing to us at the above address
visiting the following URL
other (please explain)

*13. Upon request we provide site visitors with access to....
(choose all that apply)

all information [including proprietary information] that we maintain about them
financial information (e.g., credit card account information) that we maintain about them
unique identifier information (e.g., customer number or password) that we maintain about them
transaction information (e.g., dates on which customers made purchases, amounts and types of purchases) that we maintain about them
communications that the consumer/visitor has directed to our site (e.g., emails, customer inquiries)
contact information (e.g., name, address, phone number) that we maintain about them
a description of information that we maintain about them
no information that we have collected and that we maintain about them

Consumers can access this information by (choose all that apply)

sending us email at the above address
calling us at the above telephone number
writing to us at the above address
visiting the following URL
other (please explain)

14. Upon request we offer visitors

no ability to have factual inaccuracies corrected in information that we maintain about them
the ability to have inaccuracies corrected in…. (choose all that apply)

contact information
financial information
unique identifiers
transaction information
communications that the consumer/visitor has directed to the site
all information that we maintain

Consumers can have this information corrected by (choose all that apply)

sending us email at the above address
calling us at the above telephone number
writing to us at the above address
visiting the following URL
other (please explain)
15. Security
(Choose all that apply)

When we transfer and receive certain types of sensitive information such as financial or health information, we redirect visitors to a secure server and will notify visitors through a pop-up screen on our site.
We have appropriate security measures in place in our physical facilities to protect against the loss, misuse, or alteration of information that we have collected from you at our site
Other (please explain if you wish to specify)

16. Enforcement
If you feel that this site is not following its stated information policy, you may contact

Us at the above addresses or phone number;
The DMA’s Committee on Ethical Business Practices at mgoldberger@the-DMA.org;
State or local chapters of the Better Business Bureau;
State or local consumer protection office; or
The Federal Trade Commission by phone at 202-FTC-HELP (202-382-4357) or electronically at http://www.ftc.gov/ro/romap2.htm
Other


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For more information, contact privacypromise@the-dma.org

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