Selling with Confidence: Privacy Policy Requirements for Course Creators -
Prepare yourself. You are about to learn about the reason why courses-based websites could be required to have Privacy policies.
Ok, it's isn't the most thrilling topic, but it's an important one.
Privacy is now a larger and bigger deal. The public is demanding website owners to respect their privacy. If they don't, fines can be quite expensive just for not disclosing your privacy policies.
If your website for your college collects data that is regulated You are required to give specific information to help users know what you're doing with their data.
The article (and the webcast) is designed to give course creators the basics for the policies for websites, when they are required on certain websites for course creators, and the best way to get proper policies implemented (and make sure they stay up to date as time passes).
Before we move any further, it's important for us to note that this article and webinar is not legal advice and is meant for informative purposes only. It is recommended to speak with an attorney within your region to help you meet your compliance needs.
What data is considered to be regulated?
Names, emails addresses, and IP addresses are governed by a multitude of privacy laws throughout the world. If you're collecting these regulated data, you may require privacy Policy regardless of where you are situated.
The big lesson: governments that make privacy laws don't care about the location of your company. They are concerned about safeguarding individuals' data. If you're collecting data from multiple areas it could be necessary to comply with various privacy laws, and provide the required disclosures under each of them (yes each privacy law is unique).
Is collecting regulated data bad?
Not at all! You just have to make certain disclosures regarding the matter.
The collection of data such as names, email addresses and IP addresses helps your customers have a great experience when they visit your site. This also allows you to create improvements to your website in the future.
The only thing that's really changed is that you need to be conscious of the practices that you employ to protect your privacy and ensure you have the respective policies on your website that contain the proper disclosures you specifically are required to make under the law(s) which apply to your site.
Does your website course collect regulated data?
The majority of modern websites gather controlled information. It's almost mandatory to ensure spammers aren't trying to take advantage of your contact forms and is impossible to accept payments without. Therefore, collecting information is a normal practice on websites and could be greater than you thought.
Common features of course platforms that collect regulated data:
- Registration for courses and memberships
- Accepting payments
- Video embedded from 3rd party sites
- Engage is what triggers
- Rewarding your Learners
- Email drips
- Discussion forums
- Integrity
- Quizzes
Common integrations in which course creators share data with third-party partners:
- embedding 3rd party video clips into classes (YouTube, Vimeo, etc.)
- Payment gateway integrations (Stripe, PayPal, etc.)
- Automated renewal notification (Mailgun, ActiveCampaign, Mailchimp and others.)
- Email newsletter subscription forms (Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign, Constant Contact, etc.)
- Data transfer providers (Zapier, etc.)
Why should I be concerned?
In simple terms, it is important to be able to establish policies for your website in order to generate more sales and avoid non-compliance of fines or legal action. In other words, by applying website policies, you build trust and help comply to the laws.
Privacy isn't going anywhere (if you look at it this way, it's growing more important) and the failure to have a fully compliant Privacy Policy is what gets webmasters in problems when it comes to privacy laws (where fines start at $2,500 for each visitor to a website who's rights have been violated by you).
It is worth considering joining our live webinar in which we'll teach you the basics of website policies, including how to acquire appropriate ones and the best way to keep them up to date over time!