WEBSITE PRIVACY POLICIES AND TERMS OF USE
More and more businesses are focusing on their websites. Privacy policies and terms of use agreements are the topics of many conversations. A number of large companies, like Dick’s Sporting Goods, Expedia, and Facebook have been involved in litigation addressing these issues. Business owners have reached out to me with questions wondering what these agreements are and if they are needed for their website. In order to shed light on this area for educational purposes, an overview might prove helpful. Terms of Use Agreements and privacy policies serve different purposes, however, both are important for businesses that use a website to engage with customers.
The Privacy Policy
Companies not only collect, but they handle and store personal information from visitors and customers to their mobile applications or websites. The privacy policy is a contract that lets their customers know how they protect their personal information. Additionally, interactions collected offline that also involve personal information, may be addressed in this agreement. Irrespective of how you collect data from your customers, the privacy policy is the place where your consumers will turn in order to learn about your company’s practices and procedures regarding their personal data.
Terms of Use Agreements
You may know these agreements as terms of service agreements or terms and conditions between the visitors to a website and the website owner. This agreement sets forth the expectations and rules for visitors using the website. This is a tool that protects business owners by providing the opportunity to dictate how the conduction of online activities will take place on their website. Terms of use may include intellectual property rights, age restrictions, limitations of liability, and permitted use provisions. As an example, often terms of use agreements advise site visitors that using any material found on the website may result in copyright infringement and accordingly is prohibited.
Next week we will explore whether you may need these agreements.
© 2021 Karen Van Den Heuvel Fischer
