Why You Need a Privacy Policy on Your CRE Website

In the United States, there technically isn’t a federal law that requires businesses to have a Privacy Policy. Instead, a number of existing federal laws govern Privacy Policies for specific circumstances. 

Privacy laws in the USA dictate that if a company or website is set to collect personal information from website visitors, then a privacy policy needs to be posted to the site. On top of that, many third-party services that are used to enhance website performance, such as lead-capture plugins, payment processing tools, and analytics suites (such as Google), also may require a site to have a privacy policy. 

This article will discuss some of these laws and third-party requirements while showing examples of some of the most important clauses that your Privacy Policy should have. 

What is a privacy policy?

A privacy policy is a legal agreement that explains what kinds of personal information you gather from website visitors, how you use this information, and how you keep it safe.

Why do you need a privacy policy? 

Some states have their own rules and regulations regarding privacy policies. The California Online Privacy Protection Act (CalOPPA), for example, requires commercial websites and online services to post a privacy policy if they collect any type of personally identifiable information from California residents. This is one of the broadest policies in the country, and therefore the baseline for other states.

Simply put, the United States has several laws in place – at both the federal and state levels – that require you to have and enforce a privacy policy if you collect and/or use personal data. Many of these laws are regulated by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and require specific clauses and provisions for data privacy. These laws regulate what information businesses must disclose in their privacy policies.

Because it is relatively simple to put together and post a privacy policy, it is better to be safe than sorry in this regard, not to mention if your website uses any type of third-party policy you are more than likely legally responsible for having a privacy policy on your site. 

What should go in a privacy policy?

Generally speaking, your privacy policy should cover:

• The types of information collected by the website or app
• The purpose for collecting the data
• Data storage, security and access
• Details of data transfers
• Affiliated websites or organizations (third parties included)
• Use of cookies

However, according to the FTC’s guidelines, it should be written in easy to understand language and not in confusing legalese.

How do you create a privacy policy?

The following methods may be suitable for creating a privacy policy for your commercial real estate website:

Hire a lawyer – This option ensures that you are covered under the law, and that your privacy policy will be fully personalized and legally sound. Important aspects to consider when using this method are upfront and ongoing costs, as the fees for hiring a lawyer can be substantial and you could incur additional costs for things such as translations and updates to the policy.

Use an online generator – This option depends heavily on the generator’s quality, as a low-quality generator will leave you at legal risk. Look for a privacy policy generator that offers legally verified expertise.

DIY – The option with potentially the most risk is the DIY version, which will include creating your own privacy policy using obtainable information on legal requirements in your state/region. However, keep in mind that you may not be meeting legal requirements, and that as laws change you will need to update your policy manually.  

Use a free template – We’ve created a free privacy policy template for your website that you can access here.

How do you display a privacy policy on your website?

If you wrote the policy yourself or had it drafted externally by a lawyer, you will then need to create a specific page on your website, then copy the policy into the new page. 

If using a CMS like WordPress, you’ll need to go to the backend dashboard and select the option to create a new page, paste the policy into the new page, edit the page title and publish the page.

You’ll then need to head to your main or footer menu and add the new page as a clearly visible text link. In order to meet requirements, you’ll need to make sure that the link is visible on every page.

Conclusion

Overall a privacy policy is a vital part of any website’s legal framework and shouldn’t be underestimated. A clear, compliant, easily accessible privacy policy is not only necessary to protect you as a commercial real estate company – it’s also a key indicator of credibility, trust and your dedication to protecting your customers. 

BONUS: CRE Privacy Policy Template

Need a sample template?

You can download our commercial real estate privacy policy template and customize it to your website needs here (please see disclaimer below*):

Download real estate website privacy policy template (free Word Doc)

*The information contained in the above template is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be construed as legal advice on any subject matter.