The essential idea behind privacytxt.org is to create a system where it's easy for browsers and users to discover the privacy information about websites. This includes terms and conditions, links to the privacy settings page for user accounts, privacy policies, and other legal aspects. By setting up a simple way for users and browser to discover the privacy policies, settings, and terms and conditions of a website, users will be more informed of privacy decisions.
Currently privacy is a mess on the web. Each site implements their own measures of display privacy policies, have different locations for privacy settings, and generally don't make this easily discoverable for users. Privacy is such an important concern, but few people want to do the work to implement it. Privacy debacles such as Google Buzz and the constant problems with Facebook hilight that even even large organizations are prone to these problems.
privacy.txt wants to help resolve this problem by creating a human and machine readable text file that can be accessed and discovered. This will provide simple information that users can really use to discoer privacy policies, how to change their settings, and other policies regarding the websites they are visiting in a common, standardized way.
Browsers currently inform users about the security level of a site through the use of SSL Certificates. However, the security certificate does nothing to inform users about the privacy implications of visiting a website. Browsers currently have no mechanism to auto-discover privacy policies, nor do they have any means of allowing users a one-click access to their privacy settings page for a website.
This is what privacy.txt hopes to solve.
Make accessible a privacy.txt file in the root directory of your site. For example:
http://example.org/privacy.txt
Fill this file with information as described below.
Privacy Policy: http://www.example.org/Policies/Privacy
This will start wtih 'Privacy Policy: ' and end with the URL to the page containing the privacy policy of the website. This page should allow users to discover the privacy policy in languages the site supports.
Privacy Settings: http://www.example.org/Policies/Privacy/Settings
This will start with 'Privacy Settings: ' and end with the URL to the page a user can access to adjust any privacy settings on the site. All privacy settings need not be placed on this single page, but privacy settings should be accessible directly from this page.
Policy, [Policy Name]: http://www.example.org/Policies/Terms
This will start with 'Policy, '. After this, you'll enter the name of the policy. For example, you can make the policy name 'Terms & Conditions'. After the name of the policy, you include ': ' plus the URL to the policy. A policy for Terms & Conditions would look like the following.
Policy, Terms & Conditions: http://www.example.org/Policies/Terms
There are two ways browsers can discover a privacy.txt file.
Using a link tag in the sites head HTML tag.
<link rel="privacytxt" href="privacy.txt">
In this case, the href points to the privacy.txt file.
Simply search for the privacy.txt file in the root path.
http://example.org/privacy.txt
The most difficult part is implementing this into the browsers. A browser will need to make it easy for users to discover the privacy settings and information.
The Privacy Policy and Privacy Settings parameters above allow browser makers to easily discover links to privacy information, and create UI elements witin the browser akin to SSL certificates. Giving users an easy way to access privacy information and settings on the web.
the Policy parameter allows browsers to also read additional policies, and make them easily available.
The possibility exists for allowing sites to describe the privacy settings they provide to their users. This would allow users to fill in privacy settings in simple environment designed by the browser makers but using the information provided by the website.