Wanted: Privacy Policies Written for Human Beings
You know the biggest problem with online privacy? Online privacy policies.
As a concept, privacy isn't difficult to grok. People should have control over their personal information and how it is used. If they don't want it used, there should be a simple and permanent way to prevent that from happening. Period, full stop.
But reading the average privacy policy - and I've read literally hundreds -- makes you want to lie down with a cool towel over your head until the pain passes. They are written by lawyers for lawyers, with little regard for what users can and can't understand. They can also be beasts.
Facebook's current privacy policy is a 5,888 word monster - or 1,404 words longer than the US Constitution. (Though, to be fair, Facebook has plenty of FAQs and other pages explaining its privacy policies that are a little less dense.) I guarantee you the only people who've ever read it are Facebook's attorneys and privacy wonks with a migraine.
