Selling with Confidence Information on Privacy Policy Requirements for Course Creators -
Make yourself ready. The next step is to discover about why course-based websites may be required to have Privacy policies.
Alright, so maybe not the most exciting subject, but it's still one that is vital.
Privacy is now a larger and more important issue. The public is demanding websites to adhere to their privacy. If they don't, costs can be very costly by not disclosing your own privacy practices.
If the website of your school is collecting regulated data, you have an obligation to disclose specific information so that the users understand the purpose of your data.
This article (and webinar) will give instructors with the fundamentals on the policies for websites that are mandatory to be used on specific websites of course creators and how to get proper policies implemented (and ensure they are updated as time passes).
Before we move any further we need to keep in mind that this post and the webinar are not legal advice and is for solely informational use. Consult an attorney within your region to help you meet your requirements for compliance.
What is regulated data?
Names, emails addresses and IP addresses are subject to regulation under numerous privacy laws throughout the world. If you're collecting these controlled data, you could require privacy Policy regardless of where your in.
It's already a major lesson: governments that make privacy laws don't care about which part of the country your company is. They are concerned about safeguarding their people's data. If you're collecting information from several areas You may have to obey different privacy laws and to make the necessary disclosures in each one (yes each privacy law differs).
Are the data you collect regulated harmful?
Not at all! You just have to make certain disclosures regarding the matter.
Collecting data like names, email addresses and IP addresses can help your visitors have a positive experience on your website. Additionally, it helps you create improvements to your website as time passes.
What has really changed is that you need to be conscious of the practices that you employ to protect your privacy and be sure to have applicable policies on your website that contain the proper information you are specifically required to make according to the law(s) which apply to your site.
Does your website course collect regulated data?
The majority of modern websites gather regulated information. This is almost a necessity to ensure spammers aren't trying to alter your contact form and it would be impossible to process payments in any other way. Therefore, collecting information is a normal practice for websites, and it is likely to be much more frequent than you imagine.
Common characteristics for platform courses that store regulated data:
- Course and membership registrations
- Accepting payments
- Embedded 3rd party videos
- Engagement initiates
- Rewarding your Learners
- Email drips
- Discussion forums
- Integrity
- Quizzes
Common integrations when course creators are sharing data with third-party partners:
- Embedding videos from third party sources into courses (YouTube, Vimeo, etc.)
- Integrations with payment gateways (Stripe, PayPal, etc.)
- Automatic renewal notifications (Mailgun, ActiveCampaign, Mailchimp, etc.)
- Email newsletter subscription forms (Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign, Constant Contact, etc.)
- Data transfer providers (Zapier, etc.)
What should I do?
Simply put, you should have website policies to make greater sales as well as avoid of fines or legal action. In other words, by using website policies it builds trust and help comply with the law.
Privacy won't be going away (if ever it's getting more vital) and failure to provide a fully compliant Privacy Policy can get the owners of websites into difficulties when it comes down to privacy law (where penalties start at $2,500 per website visitor who's rights have been violated by you).
Consider joining us for the webinar, where we'll show you the fundamentals of web policies, how to obtain the correct ones, and how to easily keep them up to date as time passes!