Protecting consumer data is more important than ever. Because the United States does not currently have its own federal data privacy protection law, states are free to enact their own data privacy laws. Michigan has its own privacy law, specifically tailored to identity theft possibilities. Keeping up with various federal and state data privacy laws can be time-consuming and expensive. Fortunately, a Michigan privacy policy generator can cut down on the cost and effort it takes to stay compliant with changes to Michigan’s laws.
SixFifty has created state-specific tools to automatically generate a privacy notice and policy. Read on to learn more about Michigan’s privacy protections, and how our tools make it easy and cost-effective to stay compliant.
Who is affected by Michigan data privacy laws?
Michigan currently does not have a general privacy law. However, the state does have its own data protection and breach requirements, under the Identity Theft Protection Act. This law applies to any individual, partnership, corporation, LLC, association, or other legal entity. It also applies to departments, boards, offices, commissions, agencies, authorities, or other “unit of state government of Michigan” that owns or licenses data. This includes personal identifying information of any Michigan resident.
If your company falls under one of the applicable categories, it is subject to Michigan’s data privacy laws—and you might benefit from a Michigan privacy policy generator that makes it easy to draft compliant documents.
What’s the difference between privacy policies and privacy notices?
You will need two separate privacy documents to stay compliant—but what’s the difference between them? Privacy notices and privacy policies serve different purposes. A privacy notice is a public document that you post for consumers to see. It outlines your personal information gathering practices, and tells consumers what you do with their data. A privacy policy is an internal document that your employees follow. It tells them how they should handle consumers’ personal information.
Michigan privacy laws
Under the Identity Theft Protection Act, if a data breach occurs, Michigan residents must be notified whenever:
- Their personal data is accessed or acquired by an unauthorized entity; or
- If an unauthorized person obtains access to the encryption key of encrypted data.
This does not include unauthorized access to data by employees or other individuals, if the following conditions are satisfied:
- The person acted in good faith in accessing the data;
- Their access was related to business or individual activities; and
- The individual did not misuse the personal data or disclose any information to an unauthorized person.
“Personal information” is defined as “the first name or first initial and last name,” linked to one or more of the following:
- Social Security number;
- Driver’s license or state ID number;
- Financial account numbers, credit or debit card numbers, along with the required security codes or passwords that would allow access to the resident’s financial accounts.
The Identity Theft Protection Act includes criminal penalties for sending fraudulent notices of security breaches. This includes fines and imprisonment. For genuine personal information breaches, the Attorney General may decide to initiate enforcement actions.
Is there a Michigan privacy policy template?
One-size-fits-all privacy notice and policy templates sound convenient, but they rarely cover every applicable state law and scenario. SixFifty’s MI website privacy policy generator makes it easy to stay on top of data privacy compliance. Instead of having your legal team draft the documents and monitor changes to the law, or rack up billable hours with outside counsel, our tools do the heavy lifting for you.
Your company can quickly generate a privacy policy that complies with Michigan’s legal standards. We’ll also monitor changes to the law for you: you’ll receive notifications whenever there’s been an update. As soon as there are changes to the law, we update our privacy tools and let you know it’s time to regenerate your privacy documents.
Our software pairs technology with legal expertise to quickly and easily deliver compliant Michigan privacy policies and notices. Just answer a series of questions, download the generated documents and have your lawyer review. It’s the simplest way to stay compliant and avoid penalties—and save money at the same time.
Generate a privacy policy for Michigan with SixFifty
If your company does business in Michigan and qualifies under the Identity Theft Protection Act, you’ll be affected when the new laws go into effect. You need a compliant, state-specific privacy policy and notice. Let SixFifty do the hard work for you with our Michigan privacy policy generator. Reach out today to schedule a demo, or learn more about our privacy tools!
