Consumer data is a valuable resource and, as such, it needs to be protected. A good way to show that your website is secure and trustworthy is to create a website trust centre. A trust centre is a central location on your company’s website where information is stored that covers the various practices and policies surrounding compliance, privacy and security.
What is stored in the trust centre?
- Terms of use – This is an agreement that a user must accept in order to use the website. The agreement mitigates your liability in certain situations. You can also define what users are and aren’t allowed to do on your website.
- A privacy policy – The privacy policy states what consumer information may be gathered and stored via the website, and how it is intended to be used and protected.
- A cookie policy – Cookies are small files containing information about browsing activity. With the user’s consent, these are sent to their device from the website and are stored within their browser. These can be used for a variety of things, such as allowing a website to remember login information so that the user doesn’t have to manually enter it each time, or for targeted advertisements, or to help reduce loading times. A cookie policy explains what types of cookies your website uses and how, as well as how users can manage them on their device.
- A security policy – This is a document detailing how the organisation deals with security threats, what items need to be protected, what potential threats could be and the likelihood of them occurring, and what preventative measures are in place.
Why use a trust centre?
With the POPI Act now in effect in South Africa, it’s more important than ever that organisations protect their consumer data and comply with the Act’s policies. By creating a website trust centre, your organisation can show that it is adhering to the POPI Act. A trust centre is also important under the GDPR in the European Union, as well as various other privacy and data protection regulations around the world.
A trust centre also offers visitors an easy way to view important information pertaining to their privacy and the security of their data. This gives them peace of mind when browsing and registering on your website.
Netgen can create your website’s trust centre
When you hire Netgen to develop your website, we include a trust centre that contains all the necessary information. Get in touch for more information.