Best Practices and Written Policies
Requisite Formal Written Policies:
Most technology and digital community providers have policies. But they are often not clearly articulated in writing or communicated to everyone who needs them. For policies to be applied consistently, they must be determined and clarified, described in written form (along with FAQs) and made accessible to stakeholders. Certain policies will require more than mere communication. They will require training in compliance and implementation. Changes must be clearly communicated and the requisite training provided there as well.
Setting and writing up policies is time consuming, but in the end will save time and avoid legal and regulatory risks, while enhancing customer service and your brand. WiredTrust has many templates which may be used to make this process easier. But remember to compare your existing policies and procedures with any new ones being adopted to avoid conflicts.
While there are some hard and fast best practices that should be adopted in defined policies, many decisions are personal to the network, and can be created with its corporate culture, risk aversion, goals and available resources in mind. The key is knowing what questions to consider, how to get the answers to those questions and how to make the hard choices.
At minimum, networks and websites should have a prominent privacy policy and terms of use. Gaming and virtual world networks should also have a code of conduct. The other policies depend on the demographics and natures of the network.
[1] Note that, no matter how well-meaning, attempts to bind minors under the age of contractual consent or those incapable, legally, to provide contractual consent will be unenforceable. The provider needs to proceed with that in mind. In some cases, but not all, the parents or legal guardians can provide consent on behalf of these individuals and may be legally responsible for their actions.