Why Privacy Guarantees Can Backfire – And Even Hurt Your Sales

On the surface, privacy notices on your app or website seem like a good thing.

They assure users you won’t sell or share their info.

And they keep the legal team happy.

But did you know legal language can actually hurt your bottom line?

When you show prominent formal notices and legalese language right as users are about to submit personal info, you can actually make people feel anxious.

And that anxiety hurts conversions.

According to a series of six experiments,

  • People were 12.4% more likely to say they would buy from a retailer when it had no privacy policy mentioned at checkout vs. having a strict-sounding legal sentence explaining how they protect data.
  • On the other hand, people were 27.6% more likely to buy when the website had a simple “We care about protecting your privacy!” vs. not mentioning a privacy policy at all.

The takeaway?

Yes, users expect you to protect their personal information.

But that doesn’t mean they want to have to think about it.

So ditch the legalese. Use discrete data protection notices instead. And be informal — even casual!

The experience will feel more personable and more trustworthy for your users, while keeping the legal team happy.

Software Blade

SoftwareBlade.com covers today's software and tomorrow's emerging technology.

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