Privacy policy has always remained one of the major issues in websites in Australia. According to the latest research by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) there are about 83% websites in Australia that at least have one issue related to privacy.
The latest research has shown that there are about 50 most popular websites in Australia that evaluated their privacy policy on the basis of readability, relevance, and accessibility. These policies were measured against the Privacy Act Reforms that are due to come into effect in the first quarter of 2014.
Announcing the results on Wednesday, Australian Privacy Commissioner Timothy Pilgrim said (via ZDNET), “It is a concern that nearly 50 percent of website privacy policies were difficult to read. On average, policies were over 2,600 words long. In my view, this is just too long for people to read through. Many policies were also complex, making it difficult for most people to understand what they are signing up for.
“With only eight months to go until the new privacy laws commence, organizations should be looking at their privacy policies now to ensure they comply with the new requirements. Organizations need to focus on these requirements and be open and transparent about their privacy practices.”
Australian Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has given warning to prepare changes in the Privacy Act number of times, but still there are about 65% of the websites that contain irrelevant and confusing information, which is difficult to read by a common man. About 15% websites have policies that are difficult to find. Also, there are a lot of people who find difficulty in accessing privacy policies.
The Privacy Act has decided to change the whole privacy policy in the coming March after which every website owner has to follow the rules and regulations as given by the Privacy Act commission.
Every day about thousands of websites are searched around the world, in which 31% websites contain privacy policies that are readable; 28% sites contain irrelevant information; 21% sites do not have any privacy policies; in 23% websites it is difficult to find policies; and 19% of the websites do not contain any information to contact them. Half of these websites have at least one privacy issue.
Image: Amovita
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