These days, web builders with drag-and-drop options make some aspects of websites a thoughtless process. Items such as cookie consent and copyrights are done for you with templates with the push of a button. However, these common website legal requirements are worth familiarizing yourself with; foregoing their implementation could leave you in legal hot water. We’ll discuss privacy policies, cookies, terms & conditions, and more.
Table of Contents
Privacy Policy
Many website legal requirements bleed into one another, most dealing with data collection. According to the Economist, data collection is more valuable than oil. Any companies in the US and the EU are required to protect it. Data is the undercurrent of the world’s most profitable billion-dollar data-rich companies, be it Amazon, Google, or Facebook. Thus, a privacy policy legally documents how a website collects, stores, processes, or treats visitor data, e.g.:
- Names
- Email Addresses
- Phone Numbers
- Relationship Status
- Career
- Etc.
Additionally, privacy policies adhere to CalOPPA: California Online Privacy Protection Act. Privacy policies should be simple, to the point, and visibly state that data is not sold to third parties. A privacy policy is often dropped in a website’s footer as a hyperlink. If you need help drafting a policy, you can use a privacy policy generator or WordPress plugin like WP AutoTerms. We use The AWB Firm templates for our site, which are prepared by lawyers and set up to be completed in about 20 minutes.
Disclaimers
Disclaimers are your site’s liability protection. They are notices to your end-users drafted to limit your liability for possible results or outcomes from using the services, products, or blog content. They can be included in your privacy policy and hyperlinked in your website footer. If the Privacy Policy contains your Disclaimers, add a separate Disclaimer tab in the footer and link it to the Policy Privacy article.
Cookie Consent
Cookies are exchanged whenever you visit a website. This cookie exchange between the website and your computer can track your data. According to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), it is now a website’s legal responsibility to ask you for consent if you want this interaction to take place via cookie consent popups or banners. The cookie consent usually pops up at the middle top of a website or the bottom right, left, or center. Visitors can reject, accept or tailor the cookie type for a personalized experience. These are critical as users must know the kind of data your website may collect from them. Drag-and-drop web builders usually have a clear section that allows you to add cookie consent swiftly. WordPress users can download plugins like CookieYes, Cookie Notice, or Complianz to their sites.
Terms & Conditions of Use
Terms & Conditions (Terms of Use) are your website’s rule book for users to interact with your site. They include:
- Intellectual Property Notices
- Third-Party Website Links
- Comments
- Posts
- and More
If terms and conditions will change, provide users with at least 30 days’ notice of the changes. Terms & Conditions and Disclaimers can be auto-generated and edited to fit your particular needs. Legal pages which include the terms mentioned are included when you install WP: Autoterms.
Copyrights
When you publish your website, it is now intellectual property and automatically copyrighted material. However, to officially protect against copyright infringement regarding any original writing, photos, and the like, you must register your website with the US Copyright Office. Other Digital Content applies to blog entries, social media posts, and articles online. No time to build your website or worry about website legal requirements? Use our affordable web design service. Book a free consultation, our Website In A Day service can get you on your way.
