The Privacy Box: A Compact Summary of Web Site Privacy Policies

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Executive Summary

There is a need for a simplified, standardized way of visually summarizing the privacy policies of a web site.

Consumers do not have the time to read the privacy policies of most web sites. The Privacy Box provides a standardized way of visually summarizing the privacy policies of a web site.

Consumers do not have the time to read the privacy policies of most web sites, which are often long and complicated. The typical privacy policy is about 9 pages long, but the lengths of some privacy policies can be much longer. For example, the Microsoft privacy policy is 51 pages long. (See Appendix B for the page length of the privacy policies of the top 50 most popular web sites.) Although this provides greater transparency, many consumers may be unwilling to read long legal documents before using a web site. The length of such privacy policies may prevent consumers from making an informed decision about the privacy tradeoffs inherent in using a web site.

This article presents the Privacy Box, a concise and compact diagram that summarizes the privacy policies of a web site. The focus of the Privacy Box is on the aspects of privacy policies that are potentially harmful to consumers.