One of the essential steps to protecting your privacy is understanding how to read a privacy policy.
Privacy policies should be made available in some form anytime you are asked to provide personal information. Financial institutions, health facilities or other businesses that collect your information can be asked to show you their privacy policy before you give them your information.
If the company does not have privacy policy consider doing business elsewhere. It is a show of respect to customers to tell them how their information will be used.
Online you will find privacy policies posted on websites. The privacy policy is an indication of the steps they will take to protect your identity or to inform you of how they will treat the information you provide. Simply having a privacy policy does not guarantee you any level of protection. To understand what is protected and what is shared you must read the policy.
Each site has its own criteria for a privacy policy. Some give full protection including encryption of passwords and not providing your information to any third party while others tell you that your information will be shared with...