Guide to Interpreting Privacy Policies

The Markup has provided an accessible guide to reviewing privacy policies in their article How to Quickly Get to the Important Truth Inside Any Privacy Policy.

Companies are fully aware that when their privacy policy is presented to you in the middle of your attempt to make an account, read an article, etc. that it is not likely to be read. After all, it's the consumer's responsibility to make educated decisions and they "should" be acting in accordance with the information provided.

But we know that consistently, the language and length are overwhelming and hard to wade through. Fortunately these lifehack tips simplify the corporate-speak so you can learn when and how your personal information will be collected.

The Markup has provided an accessible guide to reviewing privacy policies – learn how to skim key sections to determine how the most imperceptible pieces of your data may be collected and used, not only by the company but by third party vendors, and whether you can opt in or out of deeper collection.

Because the regulatory legislation for consumer privacy is so varied by location, you can focus on a few common areas in any policy to get a solid introduction to a company’s practices – data collection, sharing, use, and management.

You may find hints that even after you have declined cookies or blocked trackers, tracking techniques called "fingerprinting" can identify you, and could be sold to third parties in a not totally anonymous form.

Another section that can apply to you is the “Information for California Residents” section, even if you don’t reside in California. The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) is the privacy law that covers the largest number of Americans, and if a company is big enough, it will most likely have to include this language. Depending on the company, non-California residents may successfully request their data after wading through a multi-step process.

Dig in further with their case studies on GasBuddy, Epic Games, and Temu for the subtle ways companies are allowed to track your data without explicit consent.

The contents of this article are intended to convey general information only and not to provide legal advice or opinions, and should not be construed as, and should not be relied upon for, legal advice in any particular circumstance or fact situation. Nothing in this article is an offer to represent you, and is not intended to create an attorney-client relationship.