Privacy Problems

July 5, 2021 Maya Benabdelhadi Business, Industry, Insights, Social Media  

How closely do we really read privacy policies?

 

We’re all guilty of clicking the ‘accept’ button without reading the terms and conditions, but do we really know what we’re agreeing to when it comes to the privacy policies of our favourite websites and social media platforms?

 

We took a look at the privacy policies of some of the most popular websites in the world as well as some of the UK’s official government sites to find out how complicated they are and whether they are easy for users to understand.

 

The Wordiest Privacy Policies

 

There’s a lot to cover in a privacy policy, from detailing the information collected on the site to explaining links to third-party sites. Looking at 80 different websites, we found that some were particularly thorough. The average word count of all 80 policies is 5,130, but Indeed’s privacy policy takes the title of wordiest policy with 15,420 words.

  1. Indeed – 95,042 characters, 15,420 words, 629 sentences
  2. MyFitnessPal – 83,680 characters, 13,417 words, 684 sentences
  3. Samsung – 72,239 characters, 11,241 words, 346 sentences
  4. Daily Mail – 61,631 characters, 9,846 words, 506 sentences
  5. Silver Singles – 59,118 characters, 9,246 words, 422 sentences
  6. Weather.com – 58,830 characters, 9,219 words, 457 sentences
  7. Etsy – 55,809 characters, 8,885 words, 381 sentences
  8. eBay – 52,299 characters, 8,149 words, 358 sentences
  9. Bumble – 45,261 characters, 7,441 words, 301 sentences
  10. eharmony – 45,253 characters, 7,342 words, 401 sentences

 

The Shortest Privacy Policies

 

Other companies keep their privacy policies far briefer, with Barclays offering the shortest policy at just 345 words long. While the privacy policy page offers an overview of the policy, it also includes links to other pages where users can find more information about how data is used as well as the cookies policy.

  1. Barclays – 2,152 characters, 345 words, 22 sentences
  2. Craigslist – 5,551 characters, 890 words, 53 sentences
  3. GOV.UK – 8,066 characters, 1,346 words, 142 sentences
  4. NatWest – 9,984 characters, 1,649 words, 96 sentences
  5. Imgur – 10,217 characters, 1,694 words, 83 sentences
  6. IMDb – 17,082 characters, 2,623 words, 181 sentences
  7. ESPN – 17,534 characters, 2,681 words, 112 sentences
  8. NPR – 18,513 characters, 2,882 words, 151 sentences
  9. BBC – 18,671 characters, 3,338 words, 257 sentences
  10. ASOS – 19,576 characters, 3,504 words, 219 sentences

 

Privacy Policy Read Time

 

When we break it down into how long it would actually take to read these wordy privacy policies, we can see that some of these policies require a huge chunk of time just to read them, let alone understand them. If you want to sit down and read Indeed’s privacy policy, you’ll need to set aside just over an hour of your time.

  1. Indeed – 1 hour 1 minute
  2. MyFitnessPal – 53 minutes 40 seconds
  3. Samsung – 44 minutes 57 seconds
  4. Daily Mail – 39 minutes 23 seconds
  5. Silver Singles – 36 minutes 59 seconds
  6. Weather.com – 36 minutes 52 seconds
  7. Etsy – 35 minutes 32 seconds
  8. eBay – 32 minutes 35 seconds
  9. Lloyds Bank – 31 minutes 28 seconds
  10. Bumble – 29 minutes 45 seconds

 

Privacy Policy Sentence Breakdown

 

When writing important documents, the way we construct sentences really does matter. Longer sentences tend to make text more difficult to read and harder to understand, making it less accessible. As a general rule, 20-25 words is a good length for sentences, and some of these sites are really pushing the top end of that guideline with their privacy policies. Samsung, however, tops the list with an average sentence length of 32.5 words. At the other end of the scale is GOV.UK with just 9.5 words in the average sentence, making it far more accessible for users.

The longest sentences

 

  1. Samsung – 32.5 words per sentence
  2. Bumble – 24.7 words per sentence
  3. Indeed – 24.5 words per sentence
  4. Netflix – 24.4 words per sentence
  5. Tumblr – 24.2 words per sentence
  6. ESPN – 23.9 words per sentence
  7. Forbes – 23.5 words per sentence
  8. Etsy – 23.3 words per sentence
  9. Instagram – 23.3 words per sentence
  10. eBay – 22.8 words per sentence

 

The shortest sentences

 

1. GOV.UK – 9.5 words per sentence

2. Lloyds Bank – 12.3 words per sentence

3. New York Times – 12.8 words per sentence

4. Zoom – 12.9 words per sentence

5. BBC – 13 words per sentence

6. Wish – 13.6 words per sentence

7. Tripadvisor – 14.2 words per sentence

7. Tesco – 14.2 words per sentence

9. IMDb – 14.5 words per sentence

10. Target – 14.8 words per sentence

 

Privacy Policy Reading Ages

 

Each privacy policy has differences that make them more or less complicated to read. From using unusual words to long sentences, these differences can make policies difficult to read for some age groups, meaning that it is harder to understand what is being agreed to.

 

The Flesch reading score is a score given to text to assess how readable it is based on age and education level. A lower score indicates that the text is more complicated, whereas a higher score indicates that it is readable for those with lower reading ages.

The highest reading ages

 

1. ESPN – 30 Flesch reading score, 18+ reading age

2. CNN – 31 Flesch reading score, 18+ reading age

3. Netflix – 32 Flesch reading score, 18+ reading age

3. eBay – 32 Flesch reading score, 18+ reading age

5. Fox News – 36 Flesch reading score, 18+ reading age

5. Business Insider – 36 Flesch reading score, 18+ reading age

5. Fandom – 36 Flesch reading score, 18+ reading age

8. Etsy –  37 Flesch reading score, 18+ reading age

8. PayPal –  37 Flesch reading score, 18+ reading age

8. Silver Singles –  37 Flesch reading score, 18+ reading age

8. Amazon –  37 Flesch reading score, 18+ reading age

 

The lowest reading ages

 

1. BBC –  71 Flesch reading score, 12 reading age

2. ASOS – 66 Flesch reading score, 13 reading age

2. Lloyds Bank – 66 Flesch reading score, 13 reading age

4. GOV.UK –  59 Flesch reading score, 15 reading age

5. NatWest –  55 Flesch reading score, 15 reading age

5. Royal Mail – 55 Flesch reading score, 15 reading age

5. Tesco – 55 Flesch reading score, 15 reading age

8. NHS – 53 Flesch reading score, 15 reading age

8. Snapchat – 53 Flesch reading score, 15 reading age

10. New York Times – 52 Flesch reading score, 15 reading age

 

The Sites with the Worst Data Breaches

While the privacy policy is designed to help users understand what data they’re giving a website access to when it’s used, what happens when that data is breached and falls into the hands of hackers with nefarious motives?

 

Of the 80 sites we studied, 14 have had data breaches with a total of 1,442,064,223 accounts compromised. The biggest breach took place in August of 2019 and involved the accounts of nearly 20% of Facebook users. Compromised data included everything from phone numbers and email addresses to employer names and phone numbers.

 

  1. Facebook – 509,458,528 compromised accounts
  2. MySpace – 359,420,698 compromised accounts
  3. LinkedIn – 164,611,595 compromised accounts
  4. Adobe – 154,445,165 compromised accounts
  5. MyFitnessPal – 143,606,147 compromised accounts
  6. Tumblr – 65,469,298 compromised accounts
  7. SHEIN – 39,086,762 compromised accounts
  8. Snapchat – 4,609,615 compromised accounts
  9. Imgur – 1,749,806 compromised accounts
  10. Forbes – 1,057,819 compromised accounts

 

 

Methodology:

 

The 80 websites studied are taken from a compilation of lists of some of the most visited websites according to sources including Visual Capitalist, SEM Rush, The Telegraph, and Similar Web.

 

Finding the privacy policy page, we copied the text for these policies and ran them through Grammarly. This allowed us to find details such as the Flesch reading score and reading age, as well as compiling the word counts, sentence lengths and reading times.

 

Information about data breaches was taken from Have I Been Pwned’s list of sites with data breaches.

 

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The Hotel World & Digital Marketing: A Rocky Love Affair

July 2, 2021 Maya Benabdelhadi Industry, Insights, Working Remotely  

Hello, netizens! Maya here: the newest addition to the Pilot Fish Media team. Before joining your favourite digital marketing agency, I worked in the world of luxury hospitality. So to kick things off in style, I thought I’d share a few thoughts about the relationship between hotels and digital marketing.

A photo of our fabulous newstarter, Maya!

Most hotels, especially luxury hotels, have beautiful and often fairly distinctive products as well as outstanding levels of service. With such unique and attractive offerings, it’s easy to assume that their promotion would be fairly simple. I mean, how difficult could it possibly be to get noticed and to inspire with such alluring products?

And there lies the trap. Oh, what a shiny and enticing trap it is, too! One that, sadly, the overwhelming majority of hotels fall head first into, especially when it comes to the upscale luxury segments. Hoteliers assume that the sheer beauty and aesthetic dimension of their establishment is their main strength and, as such, that it is the only factor needed to entice the market. This leads them to use a similar, if not identical, marketing approach and produce promotional materials that heavily feature the physical evidence and, if you’re lucky, their location… And they stop there. The result is – you guessed it! –  a collection of pictures and videos showcasing an endless sea of bright beaches, cityscapes, rooms, restaurants and spas on a background of soft inspirational music. Absolutely stunning… and utterly forgettable. The only people who will be excited to see the hotel’s advertisement will be its own staff and tired hotel students who are 6 hours into an 8-hour day.

By presenting their originally singular product in exactly the same way as their competitors, hotels end up doing the unthinkable: not differentiating themselves. This is a hard lesson to learn but a critical one. Product is not enough for promotion. Fear not though, the end is far from nigh for our favourite hotel brands. So what can they do to truly stand out and captivate?

Present & Engage Unexpectedly

In addition to having a great and unique product, which is still incredibly important, the presentation of said product needs to be different too. Otherwise, people will switch off after a few seconds. You need to make the discovery of the product unique, entertaining, and most of all, captivating. It must be an experience. 

Two great examples of this are Accor’s Live Limitless and Kempinski’s Instagram video, which portrayed their hotel stays as the ultimate lifestyle experience in different ways. Both brands make clever use of music to liven up their video ads and build excitement. While they both heavily bank on their properties’ visual identities, they use different types of dynamic filming and sharp transitions to keep the audience engaged. While Kempinski created the engrossing illusion of @jasnauskaite walking through the hotel with stark outfit transitions, Accor consciously used a bold and contrasting colour palette to keep the eye transfixed while focusing on the brand’s unparalleled collection features and special services. You will also have caught the use of celebrities (the French football team for Accor and a local fashion influencer for Kempinski) to add a little extra incentive to like their brands.

Craft a Unique Tone of Voice

Part of presenting differently is also having a unique tone of voice (a way of speaking and writing). Don’t forget to make sure that it fits your brand, too! The way you express yourself will give your audience a preview of what type of experience they can expect from their hotel stay. Will it be a grandiose and pompous affair, glitz and glamour, or fun and friendly? 

Make no mistake, tone of voice is a powerful tool. Most hotel brands have a tendency to speak in a similar mild and polished way, so expressing yourself with a specific personality will help you to cut through the noise and be remembered. For some inspiration, check out Welcome to The Wonderful World of Belmond. In this tongue-in-cheek ad, Belmond makes fun of the usual bland hotel ads and puts the focus on people through their friendly and facetious narrator. His peaceful and witty delivery draws the audience in and takes them on a journey filled with eccentric guests and exceptional staff against the backdrop of Belmond’s story-book properties.

Use Persuasion

Last but not least, let’s chat about persuasion. Promotion is often used to convince the audience of our merits. We have the most beautiful pool, because it hangs in the sky in between two buildings, or we serve the most delicious cocktails, because our barmen have extensive training and so on. We try and reason with the audience to prove we are the best, the prettiest and the fanciest – which is why they should pick us. 

This direct approach appeals to the audience’s analytic and conscious mind. It’s the Ravenclaw method. There is, however, another sneakier way to make an even greater impact: persuasion (aka the Slytherin method). Instead of rationalising, subtly appeal to your audience’s feelings and values (i.e., their unconscious mind). A great way to do that is to build ties with people, products and places that your audience values and considers as high quality. By association then, the hotel experience will be seen similarly. A noted example was Hilton appearing in virtually all 80s American films as the hero’s hotel of choice, although that is very blatant and no longer effective in a world of omnipresent product placement.

A more modern method is the use of influencers. Your favourite influencers have developed a trusted relationship with their following, who perceive them as an authority in their field and someone to be emulated. They can tug at your heart strings without looking obvious or fake. Have a look at the Mandarin Oriental – He’s a Fan campaign, a true masterpiece. Without seeing the hotel once, Morgan Freeman persuades us with his iconic smooth baritone voice that the Mandarin Oriental is the place to be. That’s the power of persuasive influencers in action: a dash of celebrity, a series of evocative positive associations, an emotional connection, and your audience is hooked.

As you will have seen, while the very traditional world of hospitality tends to butt heads with digital marketing, there are some gems out there. Take a page out of these hotel masters’ books by following their key digital marketing lessons:

  • Product is just the beginning
  • Present your offering in a unique and engaging way
  • Use a distinctive, brand-affirming tone of voice
  • Complement convincing your audience with subtle persuasion

Happy promoting!

Want to make your digital marketing stand out? To get a free audit of your current digital marketing strategy, get in touch at [email protected].

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Starting a New Job Remotely – 5 Steps to Success

June 2, 2021 Shannon Collins Industry, Insights, Working Remotely  

Hi PFM website, Shannon here! Earlier this month, I joined the account management team at Pilot Fish Media. Even though I had become accustomed to WFH life in my previous role, starting my new role was my first experience of working from home as a newbie.

Shannon & her puppy, Enzo!

It was a brand new experience and definitely intimidating at first. Luckily for me, I wasn’t the first to go through the onboarding process online, and the team was so welcoming. I am happy to report that my first few days with the team have been very smooth-sailing, and I am settling in quicker than I could have hoped!

We’ve all experienced the strange mixture of nerves and excitement that come with a first day in a new job. Overthinking your outfit so you look like you’ve made an effort, but not too much. Loitering casually outside for 45 minutes because you hugely overestimated your new commute. Sitting in on your first meeting and nodding enthusiastically while internally you struggle to figure out what on earth all these acronyms they keep using mean. 

However, in many industries, first days are looking a little bit different in 2021. Many of us are taking new steps in our career without even stepping out of our front door. These new first days bring with them a whole new set of uncertainties and can be equally if not more daunting than that first walk into a brand new workspace. 

Here are 5 tips to minimise the nerves and set yourself up for success when starting a new role remotely.

Testing… 1… 2… 3…

Ask ahead of time what workflow and communication tools you will be using in your role. You might find you are using brand new systems or systems that you haven’t touched in a long time, so it’s a good idea to have them all set up and ready to go ahead of time. Spend some time in the days leading up to your start date familiarising yourself with them and making sure your computer is all set up properly. The last thing you need on your first day is unnecessary technical difficulties. 

If this is your first time working remotely, you should also put a bit of thought into your at-home workspace. As tempting as it may be, working from the sofa is not going to be productive. Make sure you have a well-lit, comfortable space with as little disturbance as possible. 

Make Friends 

Make an effort to get to know everyone on your team. Group calls can be intimidating at first when you are just figuring out the dynamics and the team culture. Take initiative and set up 1-to-1 calls with as many of the team as you can in your first few days. Ask them about their roles and their experience with the company so far, but also just use the time to get to know them as an individual. These quick catch-ups are great icebreakers and will make participating in group calls a lot less intimidating. 

Jump in

Your first days in a new role are mostly dedicated to finding your feet and settling in. The likelihood is that at the start, you could find yourself with a lot of free time. When you’re working from home, this can be demotivating, and you might feel disconnected from the team when you aren’t experiencing the buzz of the office. 

Solution: take initiative and ask for tasks and feedback. If you spot something that you could assist with, offer to help! You can’t learn and establish yourself within a team until you really start to get involved. This is also the perfect opportunity to ask your manager if there is any reading and training that you could be completing to help set you up for success in your new role. 

Routine is Key

From day one, create a sustainable routine. This will allow you to feel productive but also make sure you’re establishing a great work-life balance from the get-go. When working from home, the lines between work time and downtime blur very easily. Try to time block your day, including a lunch break. If you get in the habit of sticking to a schedule from the beginning, it will be much easier to maintain this as your workload grows. 

Gluing yourself to your desk will not allow you to be your best self. Take regular breaks and get outside!

And Finally, Relax! 

Give yourself a pat on the back. You were hired for a reason, and it is completely normal to feel like a spare part in your first few weeks. As long as you show up, take initiative and give it your all, things will fall into place much sooner than you might think.

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