Skip to content

21 Best Privacy Policy Examples (+ Free Template) — Updated!

Osman Husain 7/27/23 3:00 PM

Table of Contents

Having a standard privacy policy is an essential part of running your online business, as it helps you outline how you process personal data, what your customers can expect, and how you deal with third party services. A privacy policy also assists in complying with federal laws like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)

However, a privacy policy isn't always given the attention it deserves. In this article, we’ll share some of the best privacy policy examples from leading businesses, SaaS companies, and eCommerce stores to help you create your own or to use it as a personal swipe file. 

The examples offer a window into being able to legally collect personal data under the relevant electronics document act of your place of business.

Later down the post, we also include a free privacy policy template that's yours to download, edit, and tweak to your requirements. This template includes details on how to manage personal information, highlight how data is shared with third party services, and inform users of security measures.

 

20 Privacy Policy Examples & Statements 

We scoured the web for the best privacy policy examples to show you how they can help bolster your brand.

And these are the best of the lot — great data privacy statement samples from leading brands and eCommerce businesses to serve as your personal swipe file and inspire you to build your own privacy policy agreement.

The examples help shed light on how you collect personal information, whether you use location data, and what privacy laws you comply with. They're a great way to inform users of their rights, too. 

 

1. Enzuzo

 

 

Enzuzo's privacy policy has an easy-to-navigate structure based on a pull-down menu, where it lists important details such as the nature of data collected, user rights, cookie policies, and how to make a data request. It also discusses third party services and personally identifiable information might be shared with them.

The information displayed in each menu item is carefully organized with bullet points and short paragraphs so that you're able to understand the policy without feeling overwhelmed. 

As a Canadian company, Enzuzo's privacy policy complies with Canada's personal information protection law, by informing users exactly what information is collected and processed.

 

CTA Create Privacy Policy Graphic - Yellow

 

2. Airbnb

 

Airbnb’s privacy policy is refreshingly clean, simple, and easy to follow. They’ve opted for a “no frills” approach, with no distracting colors or header graphics in the way of what’s important.

The policy is thorough and splits out into sections so people can understand things like the applicable privacy laws, data practices, targeted advertising, and information automatically collected. In the sidebar, users can also navigate to other policies that might be relevant — like the company’s terms of service. 

 

 

 

An interesting addition to Airbnb’s privacy policy is that you’re able to read a previous version of the page. This is incredibly useful for users that might want to know what’s changed or to reflect on what was in place when they booked their stay, made an agreement, or originally shared their data with you. It’s also a great way to demonstrate transparency of such personal information. 

 

3. Slack

 

 

Visually, Slack’s privacy policy is similar to Airbnb’s. It features clear, easy-to-read text against a white background, with helpful headings throughout to guide the reader. Where it differs is that Slack’s policy has a table of contents where you can jump straight to the section you need, which is great for user experience and to inform users of their rights. 

 

 

 

With such an international customer base, Slack recognizes the importance of reassuring users that their data is transferred between different countries safely. This section helps demonstrate website compliance with privacy laws like the EU’s GDPR. It also provides more context about the applicable law in the European Economic Area, and how personal data is processed. 

Slack's privacy policy does a great job of revealing its privacy practices and keeps internet users in the know about how sensitive personal information crosses international boundaries. 

 

4. Canva

 

Online graphics tool Canva has a comprehensive privacy policy that really goes into detail about exactly how and why they collect and process data. Not only that, but Canva’s privacy policy also explains details you don’t always find in others — like their use of log files, web beacons, device data, user accounts, visitors' personal information, and more.

Many organizations would wrap this information up in a general statement about cookies, but Canva has gone above and beyond to instill trust. It shows exactly how it handles personal data, what personal information is collected, if the data is shared with any business partners, and how payment information is dealt with.

This is the kind of privacy policy that you should be aiming for — one that outlines how a company can collect data, how users request access to their information, if other websites or business partners get access to the data, and if said information collected is used for any advertising services.

 

 

What makes Canva's privacy policy stand out is its fastidiousness in abiding by legal obligations as well as improving the website's user experience with plain and simple language. No complex legalese here, all the information about data protection laws, targeted advertising, and applicable law is written in the brand’s approachable, fun tone of voice too — so it feels familiar and reassuring.  

 

5. Best Buy

 

 

Like most large eCommerce stores, Best Buy has a robust privacy policy that outlines what its users can expect. What’s great about Best Buy’s privacy policy is that it starts with a section that covers the highlights from the main privacy policy. This is essentially all anyone needs to read unless they have a deeper interest, for which they can scroll further.

Best Buy's privacy policy highlights things like information collected, data controller responsibilities, privacy practices, the local data protection authority, how it will secure electronic documents, the rights of a data subject, whether it will deliver targeted advertising, and details about all collected personal information.

 

6. Twitter

Twitter's privacy policy is a great example of how to reflect that your business understands the difficulty behind legal terms by addressing that to make the user feel safe.

Twitter addresses two problems from the start: 

  • That providing a brief data policy without compromising its quality is impossible

  • And that users don't have the time or capacity to read long, complicated documents about how an internet company collects personal information

These are the two main principles behind Twitter's website privacy policy. It talks about many things, including third party service providers, how it collects personal information, what it does with legal documents, whether it transfers data, if it captures users' internet protocol address, distinctions between its mobile and web app, and how website visitors are tracked.

All this information is provided in an accessible, easy-to-read format that keeps users up to date about their rights and expectations. That's why we consider Twitter as one of the best privacy policy examples. 

 

7. Pinterest

 

As with any social media platform, Pinterest uses a lot of personally identifiable information when setting up user accounts, so it needs to be especially careful about disclosing how it deals with personal data, whether it engages in processing personal data, and how it will collect information from new signups. 

Pinterest’s privacy policy is clear and easy to read, with a complete privacy policy agreement as you scroll down. The page gives a clear overview of all the aspects users can find across the site, and allows them to navigate the content based on their own needs and interests.   

 

8. Dune Jewelry

 

 

Dune’s privacy policy is a great example of how to make the most out of a legal document without breaking the legitimate interests of its users. Dune presents the basics of its privacy policy in five different sections, including clear titles and a bullet-point list with all the details. Users can scroll down the page, identify what information they need to understand and go over details like data collection, data subject rights, information collected, applicable laws, and more.

 

9. Coursera

 

Coursera is one of the most popular educational platforms in the market, and it is not hard to see why. With tons of courses across different subjects and a lot of options to work towards official certifications such as bachelor's and master's degrees, it makes it easier for students to pursue different professional and personal goals all from the same place.

This platform has a detailed privacy policy that starts with a simple but efficient summary of its “key points”. Including a group of details labeled as key points is a good way to give users the important information right away, so they can decide if they need to keep exploring the document, and what aspect of it they have to check.

 

10. Google

Screen Shot 2022-12-06 at 1.48.45 PM

Google's privacy policy reflects that it operates multiple products, each of which collect and process user data. What we like is that it clearly strives to build trust with users, aware of the fact that Chrome, Maps, Search, YouTube, and Android continually collect and process personal information.

Google allows you to read the privacy policy directly on its web page or download a PDF version for some light bedtime storytelling. There's lots of videos, graphics, and infographics included to help you understand your rights as a Google user and how to tweak your settings to your liking.

 

11. Telegram

Telegram privacy policy

We included Telegram on the list since it's an app that's best known for its rigid adherence to security and privacy.

Telegram's privacy policy doesn't come with the same bells and whistles like Google's privacy policy, but it gets the job done. You won't find any videos or graphics, but you will get a pretty robust explainer of all that the policy encompasses in (largely monotonic) legalese. 

To be fair, the policy does seem to reflect Telegram's brand identity which is serious, academic, and dry. Telegram isn't trying to act cute and friendly — it's a tool used by privacy advocates, whistleblowers, journalists, and ordinary citizens alike — so if your brand has a similar purpose, it's wise to use Telegram's privacy page as a template.

 

12. Walmart

Screen Shot 2022-12-06 at 1.49.44 PM

 

Walmart isn't the first name that springs to mind of a software / services company informing its users how it processes their data, but its privacy policy is comprehensive, well-written, and neatly fleshed out. 

We're fans of how it starts out with a promise to the customer and then dives into the frequently asked questions — giving readers what they need to know at a glance. No messy legalese or hard-to-understand text here, Walmart's privacy policy delivers in almost every respect.

 

13. Clickup

Screen Shot 2022-12-06 at 1.49.54 PM

 

Clickup is another example of a no-frills, but complicated privacy policy. As a project management tool, it needs to be viewed as serious and uncompromising with your data. 

And its privacy policy page does exactly that — with text that's clearly been verified and vetted by an expensive legal team. It's functional and it works, but don't expect to be overawed by the user experience.

 

14. OpenAI

Greenshot 2023-07-26 19.07.00

OpenAI is the team behind ChatGPT, the app that processes millions of AI requests every single day. It's clear that the company deals with a lot of private and sensitive information, and its privacy policy must be equally robust.

It's clear that the policy is GDPR compliant, as it talks about things like data processors, data controllers, and how to opt out. It's also refreshing to see that the policy isn't overly complex or verbose, with simply, easy-to-read language and clear instructions on what to expect.

 

15. Shopify

Greenshot 2023-07-27 09.53.28  

Shopify is a giant in the ecommerce space, processing tons of personally identifiable information every minute so it must have a privacy policy that's equally comprehensive. We like Shopify's privacy policy for those same reasons — it's not filled with jargon and legalese, and there's a helpful table of contents on the right to help users navigate to the section they prefer.

 

16. WhatsApp

Greenshot 2023-07-27 12.31.01

WhatsApp's privacy policy conveys the essentials, such as the information it collects and how it impacts users. There's also details about data sharing with third parties, and other meta services. 

 

17. Squarespace

Greenshot 2023-07-27 12.57.20Popular website builder Squarespace has a friendly, human approach to its privacy policy. Rather than confuse readers with verbose and legal text, the site does its best to convey the information in an accessible manner. There's also sections on EU-specific information and how to delete data if required.

 

18. StravaGreenshot 2023-07-27 13.22.14

 

Running app Strava certainly logs personal information like location data, health details, contact information, and more so it's refreshing to see a well thought out privacy policy. The company does its best to allay concerns and goes into detail on how it processes information.

 

19. U.S. Department of State

Greenshot 2023-07-27 13.27.04

While the U.S. state department isn't selling a commercial service, it's still a nice touch to see that the site has a privacy policy stating how it collects and stores user data. The site gets millions of visitors a month and deals with some sensitive topics, so it's nice to see the U.S. government stepping up to the plate.

 

20. Vimeo

Greenshot 2023-07-27 13.35.13

Last on our list is video sharing platform Vimeo. Its privacy policy covers everything you may expect from a similar service, from childrens' privacy to international data transfers as well as how to request data deletion.

 

21. Meta

Greenshot 2024-01-25 13.22.47

Meta updated its privacy policy in December 2023, so it's worth looking closely. Firstly, this policy covers a broad range of products including Facebook, Whatsapp, Instagram, and Meta's advertising products.

The privacy policy is long and complex, unsurprising given how closely the company tracks and stores your data. It does, however, say that the nature of holding information depends on the product in question: so the privacy policy for Instagram will be different from Whatsapp, for example.

It's worth mentioning here that Meta allows users to opt out of tracking and tweak privacy settings to their liking. The default settings can be intrusive, but the privacy policy includes instructions on how to change that. 

With Meta's products used by billions of people worldwide (likely including you, too), it's worth reading closely.  

 

Privacy Policy Template

Enzuzo's free privacy policy sample will help you create a clear, concise policy that instills trust, informs users of their rights, and conveys all the necessary information to comply with data privacy laws. This can be used as a blog privacy policy template, a SaaS privacy policy template, or an eCommerce privacy template. Feel free to tweak it as per your requirements. 

 

👉 Download The Website Privacy Policy Template in Google Docs 


For those folks looking for a California privacy policy template, the one shared above is fully compliant with the California Consumer Privacy Act.   


Things to Include In Your Privacy Policy

We go over this topic in-depth in our guide on how to create a privacy policy but the TL;DR version is that your basic privacy policy should cover the following details: 

  • Your contact information
  • User data collection and the purposes behind it
  • Data processing, storage, and sharing
  • Data retention and deletion
  • Your users’ data rights and how they can exercise them
  • How to submit a complaint
  • Details of any changes to the policy document
  • An affiliate disclaimer
  • A legal disclaimer
  • A past performance disclaimer if you manage things like banking & financial services

This isn’t an exhaustive list. If your website visitors include children, for example, you’ll also need to include a disclaimer on children’s rights and what this means for both children and parents. In areas where California’s CCPA applies, you’ll need a section that covers the sale of data and how to opt-out. Our basic disclaimer template points you in the right direction and its customizability helps you with the specific sections you need.

 

Mprgin_New Requests_800x300_MH_23-Feb-2023 (CTA Banners) Post 2-jpg-2 

 

 

Osman Husain

Osman is the content lead at Enzuzo. He has a background in data privacy management via a two-year role at ExpressVPN and extensive freelance work with cybersecurity and blockchain companies. Osman also holds an MBA from the Toronto Metropolitan University.