How to create a privacy policy for Facebook lead ads
Thanks to its massive audience and extensive user data generated from their activities, Facebook is one of the most powerful platforms in digital marketing and advertising. That said, if you want to use certain types of Facebook ads to collect data from users, there are certain rules and regulatory requirements you need to follow.
Most major data privacy regulations require you to outline your data collecting and handling practices in a privacy policy. Facebook itself requires that you have a privacy policy on your website if you plan to collect user data from your ads.
In this article, we’ll explore all the ins and outs of user privacy and Facebook ads. We’ll break down what your privacy policy needs to say about these ads and share key guidelines for staying compliant with the data privacy laws that apply to your business.
What is a Facebook privacy policy?
A privacy policy is a legal document required by most data privacy laws. It explains how your business gathers, stores, uses, shares, and protects customers’ personal data. It also informs users about what types of personal data you collect — such as names, email addresses, or browsing behavior — how this data is processed, and their rights regarding their data and how to exercise them.
A Facebook privacy policy typically exists within your larger privacy policy document. It outlines the types of data you gather through Facebook specifically, the different ways the data is collected, and what you do with the data.
Having a privacy policy can help you remain compliant with the platform’s rules. Without one, “ad platforms can suspend your account, preventing you from running ads until you correct your data privacy compliance,” warns Sara Marques, PPC Specialist at Usercentrics.
What’s more, “you also risk loss of trust,” she states. “Reputational damage is hard to recover from, and results in lower advertising and general marketing performance, as well as potential loss of customers and revenue.”
Which Facebook ads require a privacy policy?
Not all Facebook advertising requires a privacy policy. You only need to set up a privacy policy for an ad or ad set if they will collect customer information.
This is particularly important for lead ads, which are designed to gather personal data like names, email addresses, and phone numbers. These types of ads are specifically designed to remove the friction that is often involved in getting potential customers to share their information.
There are three types of Facebook lead ads:
- Lead ads with calling: Users can click a button on an ad to initiate a direct phone call. For example, a real estate agency might use this feature to enable potential buyers to call agents.
- Lead ads with instant form: Users fill out a form — usually with contact details — directly within the ad, without having to leave Facebook. These could be useful to marketing agencies offering free consultations to potential customers, for example.
- Lead ads that click to message: These ads open a direct chat with your business in Facebook Messenger. For instance, a local restaurant might use this function to enable users to ask questions about the menu or make reservations.
What to include in your Facebook ads privacy policy
As the requirements for these notices are fairly consistent across data privacy laws, writing a privacy policy for your Facebook lead ads is relatively simple. What’s most important to keep in mind is that your document must be easy to find on your website or app, and you’ll need to send the link to Meta when you initially set up these ads.
Here’s an overview of the five key elements to include in your Facebook ads privacy policy.
1. What information you collect and how you use it
You can collect various types of personal information when running Facebook lead ads, including users’ names, email addresses, phone numbers, locations, and even preferences.
Once you have the necessary data, you can use it in a variety of ways; for example, to build your email marketing list, follow up on inquiries, or send personalized emails. This information is also especially important for retargeting ads, which reach users who have already engaged with your brand, to increase the likelihood of a conversion.
Whatever information you collect and however you use it, it’s important to explain it in clear terms in your privacy policy.
For example, a fitness center could run a Facebook lead ad offering a free trial membership. Users who fill out the form provide their email address and location. The gym could then email users with details about the trial and later retarget those users with ads promoting membership offers in their area.
In this case, the fitness center would need to note that it is going to gather users’ names, email addresses, and locations, and that it will harness this data to share information about promotions as well as run retargeting ads.
2. Who you share user data with
Your privacy policy must clearly explain who you share user data with. This list might include platforms like Facebook itself, analytics providers, payment processors, or service providers that help you run ads or manage customer relationships. Remember that under many data privacy laws, you are also responsible for the privacy compliance of third-party processors you employ.
You might, for instance, extract data collected via your Facebook lead ads and transfer it to an email marketing service to later send emails to the users who interacted with your ad. In this case, you would need to mention the email marketing service that you use in your privacy policy.
Educating users about who you share their data with not only helps them understand how their data is handled but also fosters trust in your brand. It supports privacy compliance with the Digital Markets Act (DMA) requirements, which require transparency about data sharing with large online gatekeeper platforms.
3. Whether users can access or delete the information you collect about them
Data privacy laws like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Protection Act (CCPA) give users the right to access and delete the personal information you collect about them.
Most of these data privacy regulations also require businesses to provide users with requested data within a set timeframe, typically 30 to 45 days. Once a user submits a request for data correction or deletion, similar time limits apply to complete, or at least respond, to the request. It’s important to be familiar with the data privacy laws relevant to you to know the specific requirements and timeframes for data subject requests and other functions.
Your privacy policy must outline how users can access and delete the personal information you store, as well as provide a timeframe for how long these processes will take.
4. How customers can contact you and how you respond to legal requests
Making it easy for users to contact you to inquire about or exercise their data rights — not to mention actually completing the requested action promptly — helps you to build trust with your audience, whether they want to access, correct, or delete their information.
Your privacy policy should clearly explain how customers can contact you with questions or concerns about their personal data. This section usually includes details like an email address or phone number for a designated point of contact.
You must also address how your business responds to legal requests. Data privacy laws like the GDPR and CCPA require businesses to cooperate with lawful government inquiries, subpoenas, or other legal requests related to user data.
5. How you notify customers of changes to your privacy practices and the effective date of your policy
Be sure to include the effective date at the top of your privacy policy so users are aware of the most recent date of revision. You also need to notify users whenever you make changes to your privacy policy. It’s a legal requirement to keep these documents up to date as regulations, technologies in use, and data processing activities change over time.
The document itself should state how updates will be communicated, for example, by email or in-app notification. This transparency keeps users informed and helps your business stay compliant with regulatory requirements.
Automating your privacy policy updates is a great way to keep your customers informed and maintain compliance with data privacy laws without investing too much time and effort. Usercentrics can help by syncing our consent management platform (CMP) with your privacy policy.
Example Facebook Ads privacy policy
With the extensive information that you can and should include in your privacy policy, drawing one up and keeping it updated can seem overwhelming. To help you better understand what your privacy policy should look like if you run Facebook lead ads, we’ve created an example policy that you can use to get started.
In our example, XYZ Fitness is a fitness center that offers memberships and personal training services. To grow its client base, XYZ Fitness runs Facebook lead ads offering a free fitness assessment in exchange for users’ names, email addresses, and phone numbers.
XYZ Fitness Privacy Policy
Effective Date: 1 November 2024
1. Information We Collect
We collect personal information that you provide to us through various means, including:
- when you sign up for a membership or services at our fitness center
- when you visit our website and complete forms, such as signing up for newsletters or booking services
- through Facebook lead gen ads
2. How We Use Your Information
The personal data we collect is used to:
- provide the services you have requested, such as scheduling fitness assessments or sending membership details
- communicate with you about special offers, updates, or events related to XYZ Fitness
- tailor marketing efforts, including retargeting ads on Facebook, based on your interactions with our services and ads
- improve our services by analyzing customer preferences and engagement with our website and ads
3. Who We Share Your Data With
We may share your personal information with third-party service providers to support our operations. We comply with [relevant data privacy law], ensuring that your information is only shared with trusted partners who comply with privacy regulation requirements.
Third parties with whom we share information include:
- [list email marketing platforms you use] to send you promotional content via email
- Facebook and [list other advertising platforms you use] to deliver targeted advertisements
- [list payment processors you use] to manage transactions securely
4. How You Can Access or Delete Your Information
You have the right to access, update, or request the deletion of any personal information held by XYZ Fitness. To make a request, please contact us at consumerrights@xyzfitness.com, and we will respond within 45 days.
5. How to Contact Us and Legal Requests
For any questions or concerns regarding your personal data, or to submit a request, please contact us at consumerrights@xyzfitness.com. You will receive a response within 30 days of confirmation of your request submission.
6. Changes to Our Privacy Policy
We will periodically update this privacy policy to reflect changes in our data practices or legal requirements. We will notify you of significant changes through email or by posting updates on our website. The effective date of the policy will always be displayed at the top.
7. How We Notify You of Policy Changes
To ensure transparency, we will notify you via email or on our website if there are changes to our privacy practices. For example, if we begin collecting new data types through Facebook ads or other means, we will update this policy and notify you accordingly.
Why creating a comprehensive Facebook ads privacy policy is so important
Having a clear and comprehensive Facebook ads privacy policy is about much more than just checking a legal box. It’s an essential part of protecting your business and ad revenue, and building trust with your customers. It’s also an essential element in a broader privacy-first marketing strategy:
- Privacy regulations like the GDPR and CCPA set strict rules for data handling. They also require you to inform the users whose data you collect and process how you plan to do so.
- Creating a comprehensive privacy policy for your Facebook ads will help you stay legally compliant and avoid hefty fines and other penalties. By maintaining compliance, you can also avoid costly business disruptions, like suspension of your Facebook advertising.
- Clearly outlining your data usage practices in a privacy policy gives users the information they need to make informed decisions when consenting to data collection. This transparency helps to reinforce customers’ trust in your brand.
Plus, mapping out your data handling practices can help you identify gaps and implement systems that enable you to process this information responsibly and securely and reduce the risk of data breaches.
Additional EU guidelines for compliance
When running Facebook lead ads that target customers in the EU, it’s essential to comply with both the GDPR and the ePrivacy Directive.
Like other data privacy laws, these regulations require businesses to obtain valid, informed consent from users before collecting their personal data. To do so, users must understand how and why their data will be used.
In addition to the requirement of consent being informed, it must also be actively given, e.g. by checking a box, and specific to each purpose, which you should outline in your privacy policy. For added protection, it’s best to use a double opt-in approach, where users must confirm their consent with two separate actions.
Keep your privacy policy up to date and stay compliant with Usercentrics
It can feel like data privacy laws and digital platforms’ requirements are in a constant state of flux. Fortunately, staying compliant is easy when you use Usercentrics to help optimize your data privacy practices.
Our platform can help you generate a privacy policy tailored to your business and customers. It also automatically updates the document when you make changes in your CMP, like adding new data processing services, or when legislative changes require you to include new information in your policy.
By handling these details, Usercentrics helps to ensure that your privacy policy remains accurate and aligned with your consent management practices across your website, app, and other connected platforms, saving your team time and resource demands, and helping you avoid costly errors.