We live in a world where data collection, privacy, and data breaches have become the order of the day. Most internet users are worried about how their data are collected and what they are used for, but unfortunately, the great majority of internet users do not read the privacy policies of most, if not all the websites, social media, and apps they use. In addition, this is where the problem with data collection, use, and privacy starts. For every website, social media site, app and online service an individual wishes to use, he or she is required to “agree” to the terms and conditions of service before using such service. Be it Facebook, Google, Twitter, Amazon, or Microsoft, you are required to click on the agree-on button before you could use such a service.
The privacy policies of the internet set out the conditions for using such services. But unfortunately, most users just “agree” to the terms and conditions contained in privacy policies without reading or understanding their commitments, the right they are giving out and the risks they could be exposed to. This is all the more dangerous when we realize that these privacy policies we agree and give our consent to are legally binding. And once we agree to it, we could be giving social media sites, online financial services, and websites unfettered access to our personal data. Therefore, it is important that we understand what we are signing in before clicking on the agree button. The first step towards knowing what we are signing up for is to understand what privacy policies are, what they include, and what we give away by agreeing to them.
The privacy policy is a legal document that states how a website (internet companies, Apps, social media sites or search engines) collects, uses, manages, shares or discloses customers’ data. Companies, financial institutions, health care providers and social media sites collect and use their customer’s and visitors’ data for different purposes. It is the privacy policies of the companies that state how they collect and manage data. So reading them is extremely important. Reading privacy policies could save us from a lot of troubles. Nevertheless, the reality is that most people do not read privacy policies. According to most statistics, about 91% of people do not read privacy policies before agreeing to them. This necessarily begs the question “why do people not read privacy policies?”
Given the extreme importance of privacy policies in the protection and management of data with the attendant privacy issues, it might be surprising that the great majority of people do not read them. However, the answer is not farfetched. With the sheer number of privacy policies and the length that the average internet user faces, reading them becomes cumbersome and daunting but we should read them. The average internet user has tens of apps on their electronic devices and each day they visit tens of websites, if the person is to read all the privacy policies that he or she encounters, more time will be spent on reading the policies than on the actual reason they want to use the service.
It is estimated that an average American would need to spend 76 days in a year reading terms and conditions of privacy policies if the person were to read all the privacy policies he or she comes across. Even those who read, many find it difficult to understand the legal language in which they are written. This, therefore, means that internet companies, financial institutions and all data collectors need to simplify their policies and make them user-friendly. Government policies and laws need to make it a requirement for privacy policies to be simplified and easy to understand.
As difficult as it is for users to read and understand privacy policies, all efforts must be made towards reading them before agreeing. Because in the final analysis, our privacy, security and life may depend on them. We could also incur financial costs if when using financial services we agreed to its policies without reading. As a fix to the impossibility of reading all privacy policies and agreeing to what we wouldn’t want to agree with, installing privacy apps like Hoody that protects our personal data is important. When using your browser with Hoody, each one of your tab and website gets a new IP, a new location and a unique set of Fingerprints, making tracking impossible. Hoody Phantom Browsing™ future-proof technology beats the most advanced and invasive tracking techniques.
In summary, companies use privacy policies to limit their legal liabilities over the collection and use of customers’ data. The policies in some cases are designed to absolve them of responsibility for data breaches, hacks or damages that could result from their collection, use, storage and sharing of customers’ personal data. So, it is extremely important that we read and understand privacy policies before accepting them. Otherwise, we are unwittingly given up our right to data privacy.
