Website Requirements: Terms & Services
Short Answer: If you collect customer information on your website, you must have a privacy policy. If your website is anything beyond purely informational, you should consider having a Terms of Service.
Do you have a website or an app? If so, you might need a Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your terms of service limits your liability, identifies the proper use of the website or app, sets forth the parameters under which you can deny some on the use of the app or website (which can later protect you from discrimination claims), and provides indemnification from third parties.
If you wouldn’t do business on a handshake, you shouldn’t let people use your site with the equivalent of merely logging on. I can prepare both your TOS and Privacy Policy if/when the need arises.
On May 25, 2018, the European Union’s new privacy law, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into effect and will apply to the data of EU individuals no matter where their data may reside. The GDPR applies to you if you collect, record, organize, store, or perform any operations on data relating to an individual in the European Union —even if you are located outside of the EU. We're here to make sure you’re prepared! To ensure compliance, and avoid hefty fines, I can review and revise your Privacy Policy and Terms of Service (or draft compliant versions at the outset) and provide general guidance to ensure your customer-facing communications and record keeping meet GDPR standards.
California passed the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, which is the strictest data privacy regulation of any state thus far. It does not apply to all businesses (there are revenue thresholds and thresholds based on whether you sell customer data) but I can save you money by doing both simultaneously (rather than working with the GDPR now and California’s requirements when the CCPA is expanded or you expand to fall within its parameters).
A bevy of other states are looking into passing similar legislation. The free-for-all of harvesting, using, and selling data is coming to an abrupt halt. Companies would be well-advised to get in front of it and adopt transparent policies in compliance with existing and proposed law. This is going to be a long road.
