Terms of use and privacy policy? - Is it necessary to put terms of use and privacy policy links at the footer? I've never really bothered with

CloudedVision · 14th February 2009, 06:35 PM

Is it necessary to put terms of use and privacy policy links at the footer? I've never really bothered with this, most websites I seen have this.

If it is necessary, is there some place where I can get a free terms of use and privacy policy documents?

shalom_m · 14th February 2009, 07:54 PM

E-Commerce Integration - Website Privacy Policy
E-Commerce Integration - Website Copyright Policy
E-Commerce Integration - Website Terms and Conditions

For websites that sell a product or services, you have to protect yourself from possible legal action against you as the developer of the site.

CloudedVision · 14th February 2009, 08:47 PM

Thanks shalom!

So for non-commerce websites (like my portfolio) I don't need the licenses? Also, does the copyright license require an actual copyright to use, or could I just use it as a scare tactic?

bocaj · 14th February 2009, 11:19 PM

copyright is automatic. As soon as you create something, you automatically have copyright on it.

However when taken to court, you have to prove you created it first. Poor man's copyright can help as evidence of possession at a certain date, but it's flawed.

This has been much a topic of discussion in another forum i post on, and as a result someone thinks they may have a solution.

Eureka! - Web Design Forum | Web Design CSS and SEO tutorials - (Web Design Forum)

however, this also could be flawed.

It's only TM, RTM, patents and possibly a few other things you have to register.

bocaj · 16th February 2009, 12:53 PM

What is Copyright Protection?

May be of use to you or others in understanding copyright.

Doug Peters · 14th July 2010, 03:41 PM

If you aren’t gathering data, you won't need a privacy policy.

ian · 15th July 2010, 08:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doug Peters

If you aren’t gathering data, you won't need a privacy policy.

But if you're using Google Analytics, like most are, then you are gathering data.

saltedm8 · 15th July 2010, 08:52 AM

Quote:

But if you're using Google Analytics, like most are, then you are gathering data.

A privacy policy only needs to cover personal identifiable information, for example, a name, address, email address etc. anything that can be used to trace a user to a location or make contact with them.

Google Analytics does not cover this, but some web hosts supply their own stats system that can include things like ip addresses that can be traced back to a user or visitor. In that case as you personally cannot track the user directly via the ip address for example without something like a court order then there is no need for a privacy policy as the privacy policy will be covered by your isp as they are the ones that can trace it to an address.

Having one on your website is only necessary if you are collecting personal identifiable information on your website to be stored in the database for example or is 'held' by you from the website in any manor.. If you are running a business through your website, the only thing you would need is a privacy policy for the business itself which should be submitted along with your contract to the client at the time of sale, in that case a privacy policy on your website is not necessary.

ian · 15th July 2010, 09:43 AM

I was only commenting on whether you (plural) were gathering data or not.

But good clarification!

14th February 2009, 06:35 PM	#1
CloudedVision Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 739 Blog Entries: 4 Thanks: 1 Thanked 29 Times in 28 Posts Expertise: PHP Experience: Professional	Terms of use and privacy policy? Is it necessary to put terms of use and privacy policy links at the footer? I've never really bothered with this, most websites I seen have this. If it is necessary, is there some place where I can get a free terms of use and privacy policy documents?

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14th February 2009, 07:54 PM	#2
shalom_m Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 437 Thanks: 1 Thanked 20 Times in 20 Posts Expertise: (X)HTML / CSS Experience: Quite Good	E-Commerce Integration - Website Privacy Policy E-Commerce Integration - Website Copyright Policy E-Commerce Integration - Website Terms and Conditions For websites that sell a product or services, you have to protect yourself from possible legal action against you as the developer of the site.

14th February 2009, 08:47 PM	#3
CloudedVision Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 739 Blog Entries: 4 Thanks: 1 Thanked 29 Times in 28 Posts Expertise: PHP Experience: Professional	Thanks shalom! So for non-commerce websites (like my portfolio) I don't need the licenses? Also, does the copyright license require an actual copyright to use, or could I just use it as a scare tactic?

14th February 2009, 11:19 PM	#4
bocaj Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 186 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	copyright is automatic. As soon as you create something, you automatically have copyright on it. However when taken to court, you have to prove you created it first. Poor man's copyright can help as evidence of possession at a certain date, but it's flawed. This has been much a topic of discussion in another forum i post on, and as a result someone thinks they may have a solution. Eureka! - Web Design Forum \| Web Design CSS and SEO tutorials - (Web Design Forum) however, this also could be flawed. It's only TM, RTM, patents and possibly a few other things you have to register.

16th February 2009, 12:53 PM	#5
bocaj Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 186 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	What is Copyright Protection? May be of use to you or others in understanding copyright.

14th July 2010, 03:41 PM	#6
Doug Peters Junior Member Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 12 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Expertise: Web Development Experience: Expert	If you aren’t gathering data, you won't need a privacy policy.

15th July 2010, 09:43 AM	#9
ian Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Posts: 76 Thanks: 0 Thanked 4 Times in 3 Posts Expertise: Web Development Experience: Professional	I was only commenting on whether you (plural) were gathering data or not. But good clarification!