In Short
Your website terms and privacy policy are crucial for protecting your business and building trust with customers. Website terms help limit your liability, protect your intellectual property, and outline user rules. A privacy policy is legally required for some businesses and ensures responsible handling of customer data.
Tips for Businesses
Ensure your website terms include disclaimers, intellectual property protections, and rules for user behaviour. For your privacy policy, clearly state how customer data is collected, used, and protected, and update both documents regularly to stay compliant.
Summary
This article explains the importance of website terms and privacy policies for businesses in Australia. It provides key information on what to include in these documents and how they protect your business. The content is attributed to LegalVision’s business lawyers, a commercial law firm that specialises in advising clients on compliance and legal protections.
Your website terms and privacy policy protect your business and build customer trust. You may know you need these documents, but are unsure of what to include. Your website terms protect you from liability and set rules for your users. Your privacy policy shows customers you handle their data responsibly and it is legally required for many businesses. This article explains why you need both documents, what to include and where to put them.
Why Does Your Business Need Website Terms?
Website terms protect your business in three key ways:
- they limit your liability and make it clear that information on your site is general only;
- they protect your intellectual property from competitors copying your content; and
- they set out acceptable user behaviour on your site.
What Should Your Website Terms Include?
Disclaimer About Information Accuracy And Limiting Your Liability
Your terms should include that your content is general information only, may not be accurate, complete or updated. This protects you when users rely on it for their specific situation.
For example, you post DIY tips on your plumbing website. A homeowner follows your advice and causes water damage. Consequently, they claim you advised them on it. . As a result, if you do not have website terms, the homeowner might try to complain that your advice caused the damage.
To reduce the risk, you should state that visitors use your site at their own risk. In addition to this, you should exclude liability to the maximum extent legally possible. This is one of the most important protections in your website terms.
Protecting Your Intellectual Property
First, protect your content from being copied or misused. State that you own all content on your website and visitors may access and use it for personal use only. Additionally, you must prohibit visitors from copying, reproducing or using it for commercial purposes. However, you can allow social media sharing if they do not claim ownership or damage your reputation.
What Visitors Cannot Do and Third Party Links
Furthermore, you must set clear rules about prohibited behaviour, including unlawful activities, uploading viruses or scraping data. Make clear that you do not control or endorse external links and visitors use them at their own risk. Finally, if you earn commissions or referral fees from certain links, clearly disclose this so users understand your commercial relationship.
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Why Does Your Business Need a Privacy Policy?
You must have a privacy policy if your business:
- earns over $3 million annually;
- provides health services and holds health information;
- trades in personal information; or
- contracts with the government.
What Should Your Privacy Policy Include?
Your privacy policy must cover six key topics:
- the personal information you collect and hold;
- how you collect and hold personal information;
- why you collect, use and disclose personal information;
- how customers can access the personal information you hold about them and request corrections;
- how to submit a complaint about your privacy practices and how you’ll handle it; and
- whether you send personal information overseas.
Your privacy policy must also be clearly expressed and up to date. This means:
- written in simple language that a 14-year-old could understand;
- uses headings so people can find information easily;
- specific to your business, not a generic template;
- not too long or written in vague language;
- available free of charge on your website; and
- updated regularly when your privacy practices change.
How to Use Your Website Terms and Privacy Policy
You should add the documents to the website footer, as it is easily accessible. You should make them downloadable and available in hard copy if requested.
For your website terms, you can add “By using this website, you agree to these terms” and rely on continued use as acceptance.
For your privacy policy, provide a short notice wherever you collect personal information. Explain your reasons for collecting with a link to your full policy. This includes contact forms, checkout pages, newsletter signups and any other collection points.
You must review and update both documents regularly, either annually or when your practices change.
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Key Takeaways
Once your website terms and privacy policy are right, you protect your business and build customer relationships. Website terms shield you from liability and protect your intellectual property. Your privacy policy demonstrates responsible customer data handling and protects you from complaints. Tailor both to your business and update them as your practices change.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, because they serve different purposes. Your website terms protect your business from liability and set rules for how visitors use your site. While not legally required, they are an essential protection. A privacy policy explains how you handle personal information and is legally required for many businesses.
Generic templates are risky because they do not reflect your actual business practices. Your privacy policy must be specific to how you collect, use and disclose information. A template might say you collect certain information when you do not, or miss information you do collect. Templates can leave you exposed or non-compliant. Therefore, you should have your documents drafted for your specific business practices.
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