Importance of Website terms and condition and Privacy Policy

Depending on the application, either a website or an app, you will require either a Terms and Conditions agreement on your website and a Privacy Policy, in some situations, you might require both. A terms and conditions agreement has terms and conditions relating to the use of the website set forth, for instance, copyright protection and accounts termination in cases of abuses. By law, you are required you have a privacy policy if you collect information from your users and distribute that information or use it. The Privacy policy agreement ensures that users are informed of the collection of personal data.

As of March 2020, India does not have a general privacy law that has been enacted. The Information Technology Act 2000 covers certain aspects of privacy policy such as data protection and privacy protection. The Act is a cybersecurity law. The Personal Data Protection Bill would make tremendous changes to privacy law in India and is currently going through the ratification process in the Indian legislature. The act defines personal data as “Data about or relating to a natural person who is directly or indirectly identifiable, having regard to any characteristic, trait, attribute or any other feature of the identity of such natural person, or any combination of such features, or any combination of such features with any other information”. Although the definition does little to reference cookies or targeted advertising, the broad definition of the Personal Data Protection Bill can be interpreted to include cookies and other online identifiers. Consent requirements in the Bill require consent to be free, informed, specific, clear and capable of being withdrawn. It resembles consent under GDPR as implied consent is not recognized.

Privacy regulations are created by governmental bodies to protect customers and their rights layout data usage and how companies will use it, protects one from fines and other penalties. Due to the wide-reaching nature of technology, the website must have a legal statement on their platform if they collect any form of personal information, thus protecting user’s privacy. It is also required by a third-party service which are designed to enhance your website or app. Famous companies like Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook both have privacy policy guidelines in their agreements with other apps or platforms.

The Terms and Conditions Agreement is a legal agreement that has rules and requirements mentioned of an application or a website. Common examples of a terms and conditions agreement include information on copyrights, account deactivation, billing, subscriptions, use of the website, disclaimers, and forbidden activities. Although it is not required by law, unlike a Privacy Policy, it is recommended to have it on one’s website or app to limit one’s liability as the owner of an online platform. The agreement also extends to include explicit language to forbid any activity and can provide a remedy in the case any of these abuses occur. The terms and conditions agreement allows one to protect its website or app and its users.

The following are some of the most important things to include in terms and condition agreement: contact information in case of a dispute or compliant, clauses to the jurisdiction of any legal proceeding, terms of cancellation, refund procedure, conditions applicable to interacting with other users, posting comments, license clauses to restrict the user from copying data from a website, terms if intellectual property protection mentioned on the website, privacy policy mentioned and the manner in which information is collected.

The agreement is a legal contract between the owner of the website or the app and the users and include all disclosures to keep the website away from any abuses. The agreement sets rules and regulations which users must follow, in order to be able to access the website, therefore, helping to prevent abuse. The agreement permits you to own your content, you can inform users accessing the website that you are the owner of the content published which is protected by copyright laws. It further allows you to terminate accounts from the website and disable accounts based on the abusive activity of the user. Although you are not legally obligated to have a terms and conditions agreement on your website, it sets the governing law. The governing law clause of a terms and conditions agreement refers to the jurisdiction of law that applies to the terms referred to in the agreement. Lastly, it is important since it helps you to limit your own liability and protects the company or platform.