Privacy Policy - Criticism

Criticism

Many critics have attacked the efficacy and legitimacy of privacy policies found on the Internet. Concerns exist about the effectiveness of industry-regulated privacy policies. For example, a 2000 FTC report Privacy Online: Fair Information Practices in the Electronic Marketplace found that while the vast majority of website surveyed had some manner of privacy disclosure, most did not meet the standard set in the FTC Principles. In addition, many organizations reserve the express right to unilaterally change the terms of their policies. In June 2009 the EFF website TOSback began tracking such changes on 56 popular internet services, including monitoring the privacy policies of Amazon, Google and Facebook.

There are also questions about whether consumers understand privacy policies and whether they help consumers make more informed decisions. A 2002 report from the Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab contended that a website's visual designs had more influence than the website's privacy policy when consumers assessed the website's credibility. A 2007 study by Carnegie Mellon University claimed "when not presented with prominent privacy information..." consumers were "…likely to make purchases from the vendor with the lowest price, regardless of that site's privacy policies However, the same study contends where privacy information is clearly presented, consumers prefer retailers who better protect their privacy and may "pay a premium to purchase from more privacy protective websites." Furthermore, a 2007 study at the University of California, Berkeley found that "75% of consumers think as long as a site has a privacy policy it means it won’t share data with third parties," confusing the existence of a privacy policy with extensive privacy protection.

Critics also question if consumers even read privacy policies or can understand what they read. A 2001 study by the Privacy Leadership Initiative claimed only 3% of consumers read privacy policies carefully, and 64% briefly glanced at, or never read, privacy policies. One possible issue is length and complexity of policies. According to a 2008 Carnegie Mellon study the average length of a privacy policy is 2,500 words and requires an average 10 minutes to read. The study cited that "Privacy policies are hard to read" and, as a result, "read infrequently".