Opening an e-commerce is like starting a store in a virtual shopping center: you have storefronts, products, customers and, most importantly, you collect data. Lots of data.
And here comes privacy policy, the document that explains how you manage your customers' personal data. It's not just a piece of text put there for beauty, but a legal obligation. If you don't have it or it's purely made, you risk hefty fines.
Now, the question is: How to create a GDPR-proof privacy policy without losing your mind? The answer is simple: with the right tools, like Avacy. Let's see how to do it.
Why does your e-commerce need a privacy policy?
The privacy policy is a statement that explains how you collect, use, protect, and share the personal data of users who visit your site. In the case of an e-commerce, this data could include information such as name, address, payment details, and purchase preferences.
Privacy policy is not just a "bureaucratic chore", but a fundamental piece of your online business. It is used for:
- Avoiding sanctions: the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) imposes clear rules on how to collect and process user data. Failure to comply with them can cost you fines up to 4% of your annual turnover or 20 million of euros (not exactly pocket change).
- Gaining customer trust: users are increasingly privacy-conscious. A clear and transparent policy increases the credibility of your e-commerce.
- Protection of personal data: the privacy policy informes users about what data you collect (name, email, address, payment details) and how these are processed, protected and stored. Being transparent about how data is collected and used is essential to avoid misunderstandings and ensure that users' rights are respected.
- User rights: users are informed about their rights relating to personal data, such as the right to access, rectify, delete and object to data processing. This shows that you respect users' privacy and are ready to respond to their requests in accordance with the law.
- Avoid legal risks and reputational damages: without an adeguate privacy policy, you risk legal problems, which could damage your company's reputation and compromise your customers' trust. A privacy policy helps to avoid this risks and show that you are in compliance with the legislation.
Privacy Policy for e-commerce vs other types of websites
The privacy policy of an e-commerce has some peculiarities compared to that of other types of websites. While a blog or showcase site might only collect information like email for newsletter subscription, an e-commerce site collects a much more sensitive amount of data: payment details, shipping addresses, and purchase preferences. These data require specific security measures and must be treated with particular care.
The privacy policy of an e-commerce must also clearly treat the use of cookies, the management of payment data and the possible sharing of these data with third parties (for example, couriers, payment service providers, etc.).
What do you risk if your privacy policy is not up to code?
The Privacy Guarantor does not turn a blind eye to irregularities. If your e-commerce collects personal data without clear and compliant privacy policy, you can face heavy penalties.
How much can you pay?
- Penalties of up to €10 million or 2% of global annual turnover, for minor violations (such as an incomplete or unclear policy).
- Penalties of up to €20 million or 4% of global annual turnover, for serious violations (failure to protect data or unlawful processing).
Some real cases in which the Guarantor intervened:
- Capital Investment case: a company fined for serious breaches in user data management.
- Matrix Srl case: sanctions for lack of transparency and illicit data processing.
- Maddalena Lines Srl case: GDPR compliance issues led to a hefty fine.
Moral of the story? Don't play with users' privacy.
What does a Privacy Policy for e-commerce need to contain?
A privacy policy for e-commerce must be clear, understandable, and comprehensive. Here are the basic elements it must contain:
- Introduction: explains simply and directly who owns the site and what dates collected.
- Data collected: details the types of personal data collected, such as name, address, email, phone number, etc.
- Purpose of processing: specifies why data is collected (for example, for order processing, shipment management, sending marketing communications, etc.).
- How to collect and store: explains how data is collected (e.g. via online forms or cookies) and how long it is stored.
- Sharing with third parties: indicates whether data is shared with other companies, such as payment services or couriers.
- User rights: specifies user rights under GDPR regulations, such as the right to access, rectify, and delete data.
- Cookies: inform users about the use of cookies, how to disable them and their purpose.
- Data security: explains the measures taken to protect users' personal data.
- Contact details: provide an email address or other contact method for responding to questions or requests relating to personal data.
To learn more: "How to create an effective privacy policy: step-by-step guide for your website"
How to generate a privacy policy easily (with Avacy)
Writing a privacy policy by hand is like assembling IKEA furniture without instructions: frustrating and risky.
The solution? Use an automatic policy generator.
Avacy: the solution for a foolproof GDPR privacy policy
With Avacy, generating a privacy policy for your e-commerce site is a breeze.The platform guides you step by step through the creation of a customized GDPR-compliant document.
How does it work?
- Answer a few questions: you will be asked for information about your business, how you collect data, and who you share it with.
- Avacy generates your privacy policy: no complicated language, just clear text tailored to your business.
- Copy and paste the policy into your web site: in just a few minutes, you'll be compliant, without the need for lawyers or lengthy legal research.
Privacy regulations are not set in stone, in fact, they are constantly changing. One day it's the GDPR, the next day it's new European directives or local regulations that may impact your e-commerce business. But don't panic: with Avacy, you don't have to worry about keeping up with every legislative update. The platform automatically alerts you and updates the document to keep it compliant at all times.
Let's face it: reading and interpreting legal regulations isn't exactly the most exciting part of running an e-commerce business. Deciphering legal articles, interpreting bureaucratic quibbles, and hoping you haven't forgotten anything can become a nightmare. With Avacy, all data disappears. Just answer a few questions and the platform generates a clear, accurate and compliant document for you, without wasting hours on paperwork and complicate the terms.
Protecting your e-commerce can be easy. With Avacy, it only takes a few minutes to create the perfect privacy policy and sleep soundly.
Crea una privacy policy per il tuo e-commerce!
Start nowStep 1: sign up for Avacy and set up your website
Register on Avacy and create your web space by following these steps.
First, enter your personal details during the registration process, providing your first name, last name, email address, date of birth, and a secure password.
Next, you can create your web space, which represents the site that you will be managed through the Avacy platform. Each site added will have a dedicated dashboard, allowing you to monitor and manage privacy, cookie and compliance features. To configure your web space, you will need to enter the domain of the site you wish to manage, with the option to add a third-level domains if necessary. If your site is multilingual, you can select the supported language and configure scans to monitor cookies in the various languages.
In the next step, Avacy will ask you to choose the type of web space that best describes your site from among those offered. In the case of an e-commerce site, you will need to choose the option "Web site that allows the purchase of products and/or services", and Avacy will automatically guide you through the creation of a privacy policy for your online store.
Once this step is complete, Avacy will perform a preliminary scan of the site to detect cookies , and associated providers. In this process, it will collect information about the cookies present and allow to manually add those that were not detected during the scan.
Once the scan is complete, you can integrate the cookie banner into your site. This can be done via HTML code, WordPress (if you can use the relevant plugin), or Google Tag Manager.
Too complicated? Consult our Avacy configuration guide, follow the instructions and make your website compliant!
Step 2: generate your privacy policy
Now that you have configured your web space, you can proceed with generating the privacy policy for your e-commerce site!
To access the privacy policy settings, click on the relevant section on the interface homepage, or search for "privacy policy" in the side menu.
Avacy allows you to manage your privacy policy in 3 ways:
1. Guided template generation: no specific skills are required, anyone can generate a customized policy by answering simple questions that describe their website.
2. Generation with manual template: with this mode, you can directly enter the text of your privacy policy.
3. Link to existing privacy policy: if you already have a privacy policy, you can directly enter the URL of the page on your website where it is located so that Avacy can insert it into the cookie banner.
Step 3: integrate the privacy policy into the website
Once the privacy policy has been generated, Avacy will automatically embed it within your e-commerce cookie banner.
If you wish to embed it within a page on your website, simply go to the privacy policy page of the web space and click on the "Embed" button next to the link of the desired language.
Conclusion
If you sell online, a well written privacy policy is not optional: it is a must. It protects you from fines, improves customer trust and ensures you comply with GDPR.
So, if you want a quick and easy solution, try Avacy's privacy policy generator. In just a few minutes, you'll have the perfect document, without having to wade through legal articles and complex terminology.
