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Shop confidently - 14-day no-hassle return policy
Shop confidently - 14-day no-hassle return policy
You've spent countless hours in front of your laptop designing your website (and then even more designing the mobile version!) You're homepage beautifully lays out what you do and who you serve. Your services page is crafted to convert. And you might think it's time to hit publish, dust off your hands, and mark your website off your project list.
But it's not.
If your business operates in the United States, and if it potentially has customers in the European Union, you need to make sure you have your legal pages set up on your site as well.
These include mandatory pages, such as a privacy policy, a “Do Not Sell My Personal Information” link, and a cookie policy. You’ll also want to add Terms and Conditions, which, although isn’t required, is good to have as extra protection for your business.
What's the difference between Terms & Conditions and a Privacy Policy?
The main reason why you need legal pages on your website is to avoid any costly lawsuits, hefty fines, and harsh sanctions. Several data protection laws are in place to safeguard the information of consumers, and much of this responsibility falls on businesses that have online platforms.
Among these include the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which regulates how businesses are allowed to handle the personal information of California residents, and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which mandates a comprehensive privacy policy that explains what, how, when, and where personal data is collected from citizens in the EU.
Both of these laws and other similar regulations encompass websites that cater to the citizens in their scope, whether or not your business is based in the same area. This means that even if you’re operating from New York City, if you have people accessing your website from California or anywhere in the EU, you need to follow the rules set out by the CCPA and the GDPR.
Here are some of the legal pages you should have on your website:
A privacy policy details what, how, when, and where personal information is collected, shared, and/or sold. It outlines the rights of the people a website is getting data from and informs them of how they can access their data or opt out of having their information shared or sold. It also reveals any third-party collection activities.
A “Do Not Sell My Personal Information” link is needed on websites that sell the data of their consumers. This should include a link to the privacy policy and other relevant legal pages that talk about disclosures and what and how information is actually sold.
You may also have to include a “Do Not Share My Personal Information” link if you’re disclosing personal data to third parties (such as for marketing and advertising purposes).
A cookie policy informs users that your website collects and stores cookies. It explains what and how cookies are collected, what they’re collected for, with whom they’re shared, how they’re used, and how people can opt in, opt out, or customize their cookie experience.
You need to ask users to consent to your cookie policy, which you can do with a banner, similar to the ones you’ve already likely seen on other websites.
Does a website actually need Terms and Conditions? Laws don’t necessarily require it, but it’s good to have because it’s meant to safeguard your business. It should set out rules for your website, detailing the protection of your intellectual property, how you limit your liabilities (including those involving third parties), and the sanctions you can enforce on people who abuse your platform.
But what should that page of your website include? We've written up a full blog post you will want to read next.
As a business owner with a website, you have a responsibility to protect your site users under certain laws. Of course, you must also take legal steps to safeguard your own operations. To do both, you need to have certain legal pages on your website.
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