Legal Requirements for Websites: Privacy Policies, Terms of Use, Website Cookies, and More!

Launching a website is such an adrenaline rush. It’s the cumulation of your vision, purpose, creative expression, and hope for connection with your ideal clients. However, it’s easy to get lost in the branding colours, logos, images, and copywriting and completely forget about some of the most critical elements… those legal requirements for websites that you should have in place before you hit ‘launch”. 

You can spend all the time and money in the world to get your website just right and ready to launch, but if you don’t have your legal bases covered, you could be in for a load of trouble, heartache, and legal battles. Avoid the chaos by ensuring you have met these legal requirements for websites before you share your site with the world. 

1. Get That Privacy Policy in Place

One of the legal requirements for websites is having a privacy policy in place. A privacy policy informs users of your site of the data you’re collecting. This may be personal information, such as their name, email, location, etc. This includes any information that’s collected using website cookies (more on that in just a second!). 

A privacy policy also tells users what rights they have on your website, such as receiving a copy of the information and data you’ve collected on them. Not only is it a legal requirement for a website owner to communicate what information and data you’re collecting on users, but it’s also great customer service and professionalism to be transparent about this with your visitors. No one likes to feel like someone is hiding something from them.

On the same note, it’s best to collect the least amount of information as possible in order to provide your visitor with their user experience. If someone is signing up for a freebie, you don’t need their last name, address, or birthday. Usually, their first name and email address are sufficient. In the event of a hack or other data breach, this lessens your risk as less information about your users is leaked. So think twice when creating that opt-in form! 

You’ve probably seen hundreds of privacy policies that all seemingly look the same. However, it’s important to know that every website’s data collection method is unique, therefore, you need a specific privacy policy for your website. No copying/pasting someone else’s or relying on your website host’s privacy policy, such as Squarespace, WordPress, or Shopify.

Your privacy policy really needs to be tailored to your unique business, and you should know what data is collected, and where it is stored.  

Another important legal requirement for websites is that you must give users the opportunity to give ACTIVE consent to your privacy policy. This is where pop-ups come into play, as they give users an OBVIOUS reminder to read the privacy policy and terms of use before checking the box to accept your policies. It’s a big no-no to have this box pre-checked. It’s important your user actually actively clicks the box. It acts as their signature and consent to your privacy policy. 

2. Share Your Website Cookie Policy

Website cookies go hand-in-hand with your privacy policy. Website cookies are small blocks of data that a web server creates while a user is on a website to track their behaviour and collect information. These cookies can be accessed on a user’s device to remember information, such as log-in information, account information, etc. If you’ve ever had your email or credit card information auto-populate on a website, that means you’ve agreed to that website’s cookie policy. 

Similar to users needing to have an OBVIOUS place to give active consent for accepting a website’s privacy policy, there needs to be a pop-up that tells users of your website’s cookie policy that gives them an opportunity to give active consent to accept cookies. The same pop-up policies apply here that I mentioned above. 

3. Bring Clarity Through Your Website Terms of Use

Think of your website’s terms of use section as a set of rules and guidelines that tell the general public how they can and can’t interact with your website and the resources and content provided on it. 

A website terms of use section establishes the relationship with your users and brings clarity on things such as refund policies, purchase terms, and how they can and can’t use your website, content, and intellectual property. This protects you from situations such as someone stealing your pictures, copy, and free resources and using them as their own. 

Having these rules solidified in your website terms of use brings clarity to your users and gives you something concrete to fall back on in case someone misuses or steals your content or makes a complaint surrounding a purchase or refund request. 

4. Protect Yourself With Website Disclaimers

Whether it’s a hot cup of coffee at a coffee shop or a parking garage disclaimer stating they’re not responsible for damage or theft to your vehicle, disclaimers are all around us. As an online business owner, it’s your legal responsibility to include website disclaimers in order to protect yourself and your users. 

Similarly, a website disclaimer is a legal statement in which one party tells the other party that they are denying legal responsibility for something that may happen as a result of the other party using or implementing what they’re offering, whether it be free resources or paid services. 

If you provide any kind of information, free resources, paid services, or educational content on your website, it’s important to include website disclaimers in order to protect yourself.

These disclaimers outline the potential risks that might arise as a result of a client or customer using your content, resources, products, or services, whether free or paid. This gives users the opportunity to weigh the risks and make informed decisions for themselves. This is especially important in the health/wellness space. Website disclaimers help limit your liability as much as possible to avoid any legal battles. 

A common example of a website disclaimer to include is a testimonial disclaimer. If you want to use or showcase client testimonials and results on your website, you must include a disclaimer that states that all situations and circumstances are different and that results may vary from individual to individual. 

It’s a good rule of thumb to include your website disclaimers in your website terms of use section. These should be easy to find and clearly written. As an online business owner or service provider, it’s a good idea to include these disclaimers on your website and in your client contracts. 

I know as an online business owner that all of the legal requirements for websites aren’t always super exciting or easy to understand.

It’s way more fun to pick out brand colours, images, and write stellar copy, right?! However, it’s important to remember that these legal requirements are essential in keeping you, your business, and your users safe in the online space. 

If the legal stuff makes you feel a bit overwhelmed, I have great news for you! Contracts Market is my trusted source for you when it comes to your online business and website. 

In particular, the website terms of use and privacy policy template bundles make creating your unique website terms of use and privacy policy easy and are in keeping with the strictest legal requirements in Canada, the United States, and the E.U. The Contracts Market makes it easy to ensure you have met your legal requirements for your website if you’re looking for an easy-to-understand and quick-to-implement website terms of use and privacy policy for your website, or other contracts your need to grow and scale your business. 

*Disclaimer – This post includes an affiliate link for Contracts Market templates. If you purchase through the link, I may receive a commission.