Real-Life Communication -- Solution
Here's what you could write:
As one of our valued
customers, the XX company thanks you for giving us the opportunity to meet
your service needs.
At this time, the XX company has developed a privacy
policy to ensure that your personal information is never used in a way that
violates your privacy. We want you to know that you can trust us with your
personal information. This information will be safeguarded as outlined below:
Distribution
of Information:
XXX will not sell, rent, give away or otherwise
distribute your private information, including name, address, telephone number,
e-mail address or sales history to any company, business, organization, individual
or other entity.
E-mail From Company:
From time to
time, the XX Company would like to send you e-mail messages informing you
of specials, product enhancements or new services that might be of interest
to you. To indicate your agreement to receive these opt-in e-mails, please
send a blank e-mail to optin@xxcompany.com. Sending e-mail to the address
given indicates your agreement to receive promotional e-mails from our company.
Thank
you for your attention.
"Both written and verbal communication
is really important because you need to be able to understand people's feelings
about their personal data from a number of different perspectives," says Merri
Beth Lavagnino, CPO for Indiana University. "Because there is no black and
white as to what is appropriate and what is not appropriate."
Chief
privacy officers need to communicate both externally to the public and internally
to the people within their organization.
"People (CPOs)
need to communicate well the benefits of giving your data to the company,
but also be able to communicate to the company what your customers are expecting
of you," says Lavagnino.