Privacy and Security Policy

Your Privacy Policy covers every aspect of your data use from obtaining consent to the collection of the data and right up to erasure of it. It should also cover your security practices. A security clause in a Privacy Policy tells users and regulators that security is a priority for your organization. Like the rest of your Privacy Policy, the clause should match your actual security practices rather than being too minimalist or too aspirational. Why is a security clause so important? Because both governments and your customers expect one. Keep reading to learn why you need one, how to build one, and see six examples of security clauses currently in use by well-known businesses.

Here's the good news about a security clause: it doesn't have to be complex. You don't need to outline your entire cybersecurity operation within it. Most businesses retreat from providing any more information than the barebones industry-standard data protection mechanisms, and this is ok.

What Is Data Protection and Why Is It Important?

Data protection is a set of strategies and processes you can use to secure the privacy, availability, and integrity of your data. It is sometimes also called data security. A data protection strategy is vital for any organization that collects, handles, or stores sensitive data. A successful strategy can help prevent data loss, theft, or corruption and can help minimize damage caused in the event of a breach or disaster.

Data privacy is a guideline for how data should be collected or handled, based on its sensitivity and importance. Data privacy is typically applied to personal health information (PHI) and personally identifiable information (PII). This includes financial information, medical records, social security or ID numbers, names, birthdates, and contact information.