Privacy Policies

Privacy policies are an important part of each website. The privacy policy was compared for “Schneiders- Horses define who we are” and “Riding Warehouse” which are 2 similar companies. The types of data collected from these websites is information related to purchases and information stored when users interact with the site. Cookies are also stored to store information needed for subsequent visits.

On Schneiders’ website, some demographic information is requested for login to the site. That information may include first and last name and an email address or a telephone number. A form of identification may also be requested to verify identity. The site may also store the visitor’s IP address to verify location, as well as other behavioral information related to visiting the site, such as clicks, interests, and unique ID’s. Information gathered when users visit the site is shared with companies to assist in supporting marketing and customer service. Cookies may also be downloaded on user devices for future interactions with the site. Payment information, on the other hand, is not collected by the website or stored. It is provided to a third party payment system. Schneider’s privacy policy also indicates that any information that is stored is stored on servers that allow limited access. The following disclaimer is a little surprising. “However, no server, computer or communications network or system, or data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure” (Discount Horse Supplies.., n.d.) While the statement is true, it is a liability disclaimer that releases the company of liability regarding a breach. Schneider’s privacy policy includes privacy laws. The latest date the policy was updated was not located.

Riding warehouse displays a similar privacy policy. It states that information gathered when users interact with the site can be shared with third party sites for the purpose of customer service and marketing. One difference is that the privacy policy states that any personal information shared voluntarily on the site will be made public. Riding warehouse uses the same disclaimer that states that no information is 100% secure. This website uses the term “industry standards” to describe the methods of keeping personal information safe. When describing the information shared, terms “personally identifiable” and “non- personally identifiable” information is not shared with third parties. Personal identifiable information is only shared with affiliations. An interesting portion of this privacy policy is a disclaimer that the site does not knowingly collect personal information about people under 13 years of age. It instructs people under 13 not to purchase from the website. This privacy policy also mentions the privacy laws in California and the rest of the country and commits to following those laws. There does not appear to be a date the privacy policy was updated.

I did not find anything that was alarming enough with these sites to avoid using them in the future.

References

Discount Horse supplies | schneiders saddlery. (n.d.-b). https://www.sstack.com/horse-supplies-sales-and-closeouts/c/sale/

Privacy policy. Privacy Policy - Riding Warehouse. (n.d.). https://www.ridingwarehouse.com/privacypolicy.html