Ladies and gentlemen, I have a question for you. Who among you has actually bothered to read a privacy policy in your life? If you have, pat yourself on the back – you’re one of the only people who ever has. Those of you who simply don’t bother shouldn’t feel all that bad. Most people don’t, and with the amount of time one would need to devote to reading every privacy policy they ever come across, well…it’s pretty easy to see why.

Besides, whether or not you pay attention to what a business claims they’ll do to protect your privacy is rather irrelevant in the long run, if only for one simple reason – privacy policies do not work. At all. Period.

Now, I’m sure some of you would like to voice your disagreement at this point. Before you do that, let me pose another question to you: do you honestly believe that, simply because a website has a privacy policy, they’ll protect and respect your personal data? If you answered anything other than no, all I can say is that I sincerely wish I had your high level of optimism.

Case in point: Facebook has a privacy policy. We all know how well that worked out for us.

Fact is, the concept of a privacy policy is a failed idea, and people have the misguided belief that the presence of one means a company will safeguard their data and protect their personal information. In truth, these policies more often than not simply lay out exactly what the company will do with one’s personal data. They don’t guarantee protection, and they certainly don’t guarantee respect. What’s more, in the event that a company violates those policies, they will, at worst, get a slap on the wrist.

Come on. You don’t think a $5 million dollar class action lawsuit’s really going to hurt LinkedIn, do you? They had an IPO of over $3 billion last year. Yes, I’m aware that an organization’s reputation means quite a bit, as well, but…the problem with social networking is that it tends to ingrain itself in one’s life. Look at how many people hate Facebook. Look at how many people groan about Zuckerberg and how he and his cronies are criminals.

Now, look at how many people cancel their Facebook accounts in protest. Noticing a disparity?

We’re getting off track, though. We’re here to talk about the privacy policy, and how it’s an awful, terrible, flawed idea that needs to die. It allows organizations to pay lip service to user protection, rather than actually examining the deeper issue. It’s often cumbersome and dry to read, and it can be changed at any time. Most users can’t be bothered to keep up with all the changes, and so they just assume they’re protected, and go on their merry way.

That’s a mistake.

What needs to happen is a serious, structured discourse on the matter. Businesses, consumers, and governments need to essentially have a sitdown, and talk about what’s happening, what shouldn’t happen, and what needs to happen. Maybe then we can develop a few privacy policies that actually work…or at the very least, a new concept that makes them obsolete.

As if they aren’t already.

Image Credits: [New Home Decor]

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