It's easy to assume a privacy policy and cookie policy are only for big companies handling sensitive data — but if your website has a contact form, tracks visits in any way, or even just sends an email when someone submits an enquiry, you're handling personal information, and that comes with a few plain-English obligations.
What a privacy policy actually does
A privacy policy explains, in reasonably plain terms, what personal information your site collects, why, and what happens to it — for example, a name and email address submitted through a contact form, sent to you so you can reply. It's not about scaring visitors off; it's about being upfront, which is both a legal requirement in the UK and a straightforward trust signal.
What a cookie policy covers
Cookies are small bits of data a website can store in a visitor's browser — anything from remembering a preference to tracking behaviour for analytics or advertising. A cookie policy explains what your site uses and why. A simple business site that isn't running tracking or advertising scripts has a much shorter story to tell here than a large ecommerce platform, but it's still worth stating clearly rather than leaving it unaddressed.
What happens if you skip it
Beyond the legal side, missing policies can quietly knock trust — a visitor who notices there's no privacy policy linked in the footer of a site asking for their details might reasonably wonder what else has been overlooked. It's a small detail that either reassures or raises a flag, with very little effort either way.
What this looks like in practice
For a straightforward small business site — a contact form, no ecommerce, no heavy tracking — a clear, honestly written privacy policy and cookie policy covering exactly what's actually collected is usually enough. It doesn't need to be a dense legal document; it needs to be accurate and easy to understand.
How I handle this
Every site I build comes with a privacy policy and cookie policy included as standard, written to reflect what that specific site actually does — not a generic template copied from somewhere else. It's one less thing for you to worry about getting right.
Want a website that actually does this for your business?
Get in touch