Privacy Policies and Language Choices

If your website or app targets users from different regions or cultures, your Privacy Policy needs to reflect that diversity by offering multiple translations to accommodate language preferences.

Privacy laws don't explicitly require multilingual Privacy Policies, but they do emphasize transparency. And transparency only works when users can understand your policy without language barriers.

This article discusses why it's advisable to have a multilingual Privacy Policy, how it supports compliance with privacy laws, and practical steps to implement it. We'll also look at a few examples of businesses doing it right, so you can see what works in practice.

What is a Privacy Policy?

A Privacy Policy is a legal document that explains how your business collects, uses, and shares users' personal information, as well as what rights users have over their data. It's otherwise known as a Privacy Notice or Privacy Statement.

Beyond its legal purpose, a Privacy Policy is a public declaration of your commitment to transparency and accountability. It assures users you will handle their personal information responsibly and in compliance with applicable privacy laws.

To clarify, personal information is any information that can directly or indirectly identify an individual. Common examples include but aren't limited to:

• Names
• Email addresses
• Physical addresses
• Phone numbers
• Location data
• Financial information
• Social security numbers
• IP addresses and browsing activity
• Online trackers like cookies, pixels, etc.

Different laws define and regulate personal information in different ways, but the consensus is that businesses must be transparent about how they handle user data. And your Privacy Policy is where you show that transparency.

Here's an example of what a standard Privacy Policy looks like as well as the typical list of clauses it addresses, from Upwork:

With that said, if your business serves a global or diverse audience, your Privacy Policy needs to make special considerations for language barriers. Let's see a few reasons why.

Why Offer Multiple Language Choices in Your Privacy Policy?

Offering your Privacy Policy in multiple languages isn't just considerate, it's also practical for a number of reasons such as:

• Promoting transparency
• Avoiding legal liability
• Reaching a diverse and broad audience
• Building trust
• Enhancing user experience
• Reducing risk of misunderstandings

Let's look at these in more detail to see how language choices in a Privacy Policy can influence them.

Promote Transparency and Avoid Legal Liability

Privacy laws may differ across borders, but they speak a universal language when it comes to transparency: provide crystal clear and easily understandable information to users. This implies that providing your Privacy Policy in a language users don't understand falls short of compliance.

Case in point, The Dutch Data Protection Authority fined TikTok €750,000 for not translating its Privacy Policy into Dutch, which left users (particularly minors) in The Netherlands poorly informed about its data practices.

In regions with multiple official languages - like Canada and Belgium - translating your Privacy Policy into all official languages is mandatory.

In Canada, for instance, the Official Languages Act requires that all applicable websites (including Privacy Policies) be available in Canada's official languages: English and French. And here's Amazon fulfilling that requirement on its Canadian website:

Cater to a Diverse Audience

If your website or app serves a multilingual audience, offering your Privacy Policy in just one language effectively alienates users who don't speak it.

By translating your Privacy Policy into several relevant languages, you not only improve accessibility but also show consideration for the linguistic and cultural diversity of your audience.

Build Trust and Enhance the User Experience

Trust is fundamental to any user-business relationship. A Privacy Policy that can be translated into a user's native language tells them you prioritize their understanding and convenience.

An easily accessible Privacy Policy also enhances the overall user experience, creating smoother interactions with your platform and removing unnecessary friction or confusion.

Reduce Risks of Misunderstandings

Legal documents can be challenging to understand even in a user's native language. So when users have to navigate legal technicalities in an unfamiliar language, the risk of misinterpretation skyrockets. The outcome? Disputes, complaints, or even legal action.

In contrast, providing several translations of your Privacy Policy can help minimize misunderstandings. This, in turn, reduces your exposure to legal and reputational hazards.

Do Privacy Laws Require Multilingual Privacy Policies?

Privacy laws don't outrightly require multiple language versions of a Privacy Policy, but they do stress clarity, transparency, and accessibility. Let's take a closer look at what a few of these laws have to say.

EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

The GDPR is the EU's comprehensive regulatory framework. It applies globally as long as EU residents' personal information is involved.

When it comes to transparency, Article 12 of the GDPR requires businesses to provide all relevant information about users "in a concise, transparent, intelligible and easily accessible form, using clear and plain language..."

Recital 58 of the GDPR backs up this sentiment by requiring publicly disclosed information about data subjects to be:

• Concise
• Easily accessible
• Easy to understand
• Written in clear and plain language

Although the GDPR doesn't explicitly require businesses to provide multiple translations of their Privacy Policy, serving a multilingual audience within the EU or EEA makes this a practical necessity.

Otherwise, users may struggle to give informed consent, which is a core GDPR requirement. For this reason, it's advisable to offer several EU language translations of your Privacy Policy (e.g., French, German, Spanish, Italian, etc.) if you serve or target EU users.

GDPR violations can attract fines as high as €20 million or 4% of your business's global turnover in the preceding financial year, so it's best to err on the side of caution.

California Online Privacy Protection Act (CalOPPA)

CalOPPA is a trailblazing privacy law in the United States. It applies to any website or app that collects personal information from California residents, regardless of location.

While CalOPPA doesn't require multilingual Privacy Policies, recommendations from California's Attorney General encourage businesses to consider translating their Privacy Policies into other languages spoken by their audience (particularly relevant in a linguistically diverse state like California):

Offering multiple translations of your Privacy Policy not only aligns your business with these recommendations, but it can also help you develop goodwill with users who prefer languages other than English.

Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA)

PIPEDA is the main law for private-sector organizations in Canada. Among other requirements, PIPEDA emphasizes that consent must be informed and obtained in a way that individuals can reasonably understand.

While the law doesn't directly require Privacy Policy translations, the Privacy Commissioner's guide highlights the importance of accessibility.

In short, businesses must communicate their Privacy Policy in a way that's clear and easy for their audience to grasp. The logical implication is for businesses to consider language barriers.

For bilingual regions like Canada, you must, at a minimum, offer translated versions of your Privacy Policy in all official languages. In Canada's case, that's English and French.

Practical Steps for Implementing Your Multilingual Privacy Policy

Here's a step-by-step guide to create your multilingual Privacy Policy and ensure it's clear and user-friendly.

Identify Your Relevant Language Choices

With currently 7,164 languages spoken worldwide, it's impossible to translate your Privacy Policy into all of them. Instead, you need to pick which are most relevant to you.

Start by analyzing your website or app's visitor demographics to pinpoint the languages your users prefer. Tools like Google Analytics can help you uncover insights about your audience's locations and preferred languages so you can see which to prioritize.

If, for instance, your visitors mainly come from the U.S., Canada, and the EU, languages like English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, and Dutch might cover the majority of your audience. The goal is to maximize coverage without spreading resources too thin.

Choose Your Translation Method

Once you've identified your target languages, it's time to decide on a translation method.

Your options are:

• Machine Translation: Free tools like Immersive Translate, Google Translate, and DeepL offer cost-effective solutions. However, machine translations are prone to inaccuracies, which can be particularly damaging for high-stakes legal documents like Privacy Policies.
• Professional Legal Translation Services: Companies like TransPerfect and Lionbridge specifically offer legal translation services with expert oversight. These services ensure accuracy, cultural relevance, and compliance, but they come at a higher cost compared to machine translations.
• Hybrid Approach: Finally, you can mix both options above by using machine translation for initial drafts and then getting a human translator to review and refine the text. This approach balances cost-effectiveness with accuracy, making it a popular choice for smaller businesses.

Ensure Accessibility and Good User Experience

A well-translated Privacy Policy is only effective if your audience can easily find and read it. The best way to do this is by including a language selection button at the top of your Privacy Policy page.

Here's an example from TikTok:

And here's another example from Apple:

As a best practice, keep your language options straightforward. Use full names like "English" instead of abbreviations like "EN" for complete clarity. If you use country flags, pair them with text labels to avoid confusion. Again, TikTok does this well:

Keep in mind that the translated versions of your Privacy Policies should be just as visually appealing and easy to navigate as the original.

To do this, integrate your translated versions into your website's design. This includes matching fonts, layouts, and overall style to ensure a cohesive user experience.

Examples of Examples of Multilingual Privacy Policies

To help inform your own approach, let's go over a few companies excelling at multilingual Privacy Policies:

Nielsen operates in over 100 countries and, as a result, offers its Privacy Notice in 15 languages, including English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, etc. The language drop-down menu is located in the top-right corner of the Privacy Policy page for easy access:

When we switch over to the Italian version, for instance, we can see the layout and design remain neat and intact:

Nike takes an interesting approach in its U.S. Privacy Policy. It offers both English and Spanish versions but the phrase "Spanish Version" is written in actual Spanish within the English Privacy Policy:

Similarly, the phrase "English Version" is written in actual English within its Spanish Privacy Policy. This approach helps users spot their preferred language at a glance:

Nikon Canada's Privacy Policy is available in both English and French, reflecting the bilingual nature of its target market. It uses simple links at the top of its webpage to let make their choices:

And here's how it looks when we switch to the French translation:

Summary

Providing multiple translations of your Privacy Policy may not always be legally required, but it's advisable to ensure accessibility when catering to diverse audiences.

What's more, it helps your business comply with the transparency obligations of global privacy laws like GDPR, CalOPPA, and PIPEDA, while showing you care about their understanding and convenience.

After all, if you target diverse users but offer just one language in your Privacy Policy, you effectively shut out segments of your audience who don't understand that language. This not only erodes user trust but also opens room for legal liability.

To recap, implementing your multilingual Privacy Policy boils down to:

• Selecting your target languages based on user demographics using tools like Google Analytics.
• Choosing translation methods - professional services, machine tools, or a mix of both.
• Ensuring accessibility through language selectors and smooth integration into your website or app.

Providing a multilingual Privacy Policy is more than a compliance exercise. It's a show of your commitment to inclusivity, transparency, and trust.