In a Standard Privacy Policy, consumers are given information about data collection, handling, storing, and potential sharing practices. It is crucial to have more information about these documents before creating them. Get to know in detail about the same here.
A Terms and Conditions Agreement also called a Terms of Service Agreement, is a legal contract between you, the service provider, and your customers, the users availing of the service.
Most Terms and Conditions Agreement outline two simple parts: you make certain services available to your customers, and your users promise to follow the rules and guidelines outlined in your Privacy Policy!
That sounds simple at first glance, but in reality, Terms of Use are a great way for online websites and apps to protect themselves against user misuse and insure themselves against liability to user misconceptions.
What Does a Terms and Conditions Agreement Allows?
Terms and Conditions agreements are a vital requirement for websites because these legally enforceable contracts outline things like your privacy policies, the ways you manage user data, and the actions you reserve the right to make, like:
- Withdrawing and canceling services to a certain user for violation of policies or other such violations,
- Disable user accounts after repeated offenses or due to detection of malicious or harmful actions,
- Manage customer expectations regarding the functionality and outcome of your services,
- Set the rules for customer behavior, and prohibit malicious actions, hateful comments, hate speech, etc.
There are Terms and Services that are really Necessary for all the Users!
Are Terms and Conditions Agreement Legally Enforceable?
Yes! Terms are considered legal contracts between the service provider and their clients, which means they can be used in legal disputes between you and your clients.
Because one of the biggest uses of a Terms and Conditions Contract is to manage user expectations regarding site functionality and service availability, they can quickly wrap up most legal disputes. For example, if a customer lodges a legal complaint against your service because it was unavailable at a particular time, and your TaC agreement already states the service is not guaranteed to always be up without interruptions, you’ll face no legal repercussions.
In simple words, it’s a great way to reduce your company’s liability and your liability for customer grievances.
Requirements for Privacy Policy Online
However, your Terms and Conditions Agreement must also check some boxes to be legally enforceable. In short your Terms and Conditions contract must be
- Clear: It must be evident at first glance what the agreement is drafted for
- Fair: You’re not allowed to put unfair or unreasonable demands on your customers
- Lawful: The contract is null and void if it requires either party to commit an unlawful act
- Agreed to: Lastly, both parties must agree to the contract, and only then it is considered enforceable.
But before you go ahead and draft your Terms of Service Agreements there’s one more thing you need to pay special attention to the standard privacy policy. This section outlines the data you’re collecting, how you’re going to store it, and even whether you’re going to sell it to a third party, so that customers can be adequately informed first and then make the decision for themselves. You Can also Get a MSA Draft for Small Business In India
What Matters When Drafting a Terms and Conditions Agreement?
If your website has a standard Terms and Conditions Agreement, chances are it will contain a Privacy Policy section. While no single law governs consumer data collected by websites, you could face legal repercussions if your website doesn’t have a privacy policy for handling consumer data.
That means, as far as the law is concerned, if you’re collecting Personally-Identifying Information (PII), your consumers have a right to know. This applies especially in cases where you sell customer data to advertising companies.
In these cases, pulling a standard privacy policy template off the Internet is tempting. However, suppose you want to ensure you aren’t held liable for a slight mistake or mislabel in the wordings. In that case, you should carefully read your privacy policy before adding it to your Terms and Conditions agreement.
Here are the top Simple Points for drafting Terms of Service Privacy Policy you should focus on:
What Data You Can Collect and Store Online?
The most important thing to state is the Personally-Identifying Information your service collects. Personally-Identifying Information is any info that can be used to identify a particular customer and includes predictable points like:
- A government identification number
- Credit card number
- Billing address
- First and last name of the customer
- Email address
- And other such items of information.
Your standard privacy policy also has to state your precautions when storing consumer data. Are you storing the data on a secure server, and if so, what kind of encryption does it have? Do you guarantee customers can entrust you with their data without worrying about leaks?
How Do You Share PIL?
After that, your standard privacy policy should take special care to mention how you plan to use Personally-Identifying Information.
For example, suppose you’re planning to send customers emails at the provided addresses. In that case, your privacy policy must mention you’ll use PII for communicating with customers for follow-up and marketing purposes.
You should also mention it if you’re going to provide their PII to third parties like advertisement companies since it is unlawful to provide customer data without the prior knowledge and consent of the customers.
How You’re Going To Handle the PII of Minors?
Regardless of country or state, the law is always highly protective of minors, and for a good reason. There are exceptions (and additions, in some cases) depending on the region.
Still, your privacy policy should generally state that minors are allowed to request the removal of their data from your databases. If you want to avoid a civil lawsuit, it’s very, very important you comply with these requests.
Compliance with GDPR And Other Policies
While standard privacy policies can be found everywhere, it’s crucial to have an attorney present when drafting your privacy policy section.
This is because only a qualified professional can help you navigate the hundreds of policies online businesses must satisfy, like the General Data Protection Regulation policy (GDPR) for European citizens. Even if your business is in a different country, the GDPR applies to European citizens everywhere, and your company will be held accountable if you violate it.
Is Your Standard Privacy Policy Current And Up-To-Date?
The ever-changing nature of technology means that laws related to data protection see changes quite frequently, and new laws are enacted faster than the average person can keep up with them.
That’s why you have to have a qualified attorney present when drafting your standard privacy policy, so they can ensure that the document satisfies all expectations and current laws regarding data security and handling of customer information.
Conclusion:-
Only a lawyer has the necessary expertise to verify that your privacy policy contains the essential elements for establishing a Terms of Service Privacy Policy and that you adequately educate customers about how you intend to gather, keep, and handle their data.
At least once or twice a year, it’s recommended that you have a technology lawyer update your privacy policy. Get in touch with the best technology lawyers from Vakilsearch. We are everybody’s go-to option when it comes to legal advice and consulting technology lawyers, entertainment lawyers, and even corporate attorneys. Get in touch with us right away to resolve all your queries.
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