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Author Topic: Legal Notice  (Read 236 times)
Fox + Associates
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« on: September 17, 2008, 03:08:52 PM »

I want to know if we need a legal notice on our website.  I don't really know anything about them, except I notice them on nearly every website I visit.  If we should have one, does Lunar Pages have examples and/or standard legal notices for their customers to use?
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Mitch
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« Reply #1 on: September 18, 2008, 05:16:01 AM »

Well, what exactly do you think that you should cover or notify your users of? 
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bryantrv
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« Reply #2 on: September 18, 2008, 06:00:53 AM »

I believe it is a good idea for a business to have a posted privacy policy (and may be required by law in some states like California).
There are some free privacy policy generators out there.

Here's a free one I found-
http://www.dmaresponsibility.org/PPG/
« Last Edit: September 18, 2008, 06:07:42 AM by bryantrv » Logged

Fox + Associates
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« Reply #3 on: September 18, 2008, 07:26:04 AM »

Well, what exactly do you think that you should cover or notify your users of? 
I don't know.  This is the first website I've done for a business and I wonder if there is some legal stuff that should be on the website (maybe even required by law?).  We would ask our lawyer, but he only deals with a certain type of case, far from anything having to do with websites.  We did ask another lawyer, who is just a friend of a fellow employee, and he said to ask Lunar Pages.  So, here I am.
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Fox + Associates
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« Reply #4 on: September 18, 2008, 07:27:10 AM »

I believe it is a good idea for a business to have a posted privacy policy (and may be required by law in some states like California).
There are some free privacy policy generators out there.

Here's a free one I found-
http://www.dmaresponsibility.org/PPG/
Ok, I will check that out.  Thanks!
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« Reply #5 on: September 18, 2008, 07:35:30 AM »

Yes, depending on your type of web site and business, a privacy policy might be a good thing to have, if for no other reason to cover yourself, just in case something bad may happen.  For example, a few weeks back Google AdSense started to require web sites to have a privacy policy of some sort.  So if you display AdSense ads on your web site - that would be another good reason to have a privacy policy.
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Fox + Associates
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« Reply #6 on: September 18, 2008, 07:48:33 AM »

Yes, depending on your type of web site and business, a privacy policy might be a good thing to have, if for no other reason to cover yourself, just in case something bad may happen.  For example, a few weeks back Google AdSense started to require web sites to have a privacy policy of some sort.  So if you display AdSense ads on your web site - that would be another good reason to have a privacy policy.
Well, we don't use AdSense, but we do use practically everything else Google has.  So, I'll have to read up on what we do use.  The link provided by bryantrv was very helpful.  I already have a preliminary version together (here).  I have to read more about privacy notices and have others review the text before I provide a link on the website.
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MrPhil
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« Reply #7 on: September 18, 2008, 10:50:18 AM »

Well, there is no "one size fits all" legal page. It all depends on what products, services, or information you're providing to visitors. If you collect any  sort of private information (names and addresses, email addresses, credit card numbers, etc.) you'll need some policy about protecting that information, and that should be reflected in the "legal" or "privacy" page. Beyond that, if you sell physical or virtual products, you'll need some kind of warranty or guarantee information, or at least a disclaimer that you are not responsible for whatever happens. Same thing for services provided over the site -- of course you have "errors and omissions" insurance. I wouldn't even say  that you have insurance (just invites nuisance lawsuits), except where you are required by law to carry insurance, bonding, or the like. You might want to say something about your intellectual property -- copyrights, trademarks, patents, and such, and what rights you give to the purchaser under license (typically, that you retain ownership, but are licensing the customer to use  your product). If you have a discussion board or blog, you need something stating who is responsible for what's posted (libelous or threatening content), whether the site reserves the right to edit or remove posts (which may be seen as taking responsibility for posted material!), and general rules of conduct.

IANAL, but I hope that will get you started. I may have missed something, but you need to read a lot of "legal", "privacy", "warranty", "forum rules", etc. pages and knock together something comprehensive and suited for your business. If you collect personal information, various laws may prescribe that you do certain things (SSL, encryption, etc.), as may financial services that provide you with things like a merchant account or credit card gateway. When you get it all together, run it by your lawyer. If he's not comfortable passing judgment on it, he should be able to recommend someone else who specializes in such things. Your insurance agent may also have things to say about it (for a lot less cost!), so you may want to run it by him first.
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« Reply #8 on: September 18, 2008, 11:28:55 AM »

Thanks for taking the time to write that out MrPhil.  That's very helpful!
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« Reply #9 on: September 18, 2008, 11:29:44 AM »

Might also look at what other people in your area of business are doing.  Not saying you should copy them word for word, but might get an idea of what you should and should not have covered.
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« Reply #10 on: September 22, 2008, 10:31:40 AM »

I believe it is a good idea for a business to have a posted privacy policy (and may be required by law in some states like California).
There are some free privacy policy generators out there.

Here's a free one I found-
http://www.dmaresponsibility.org/PPG/

bryantrv,
Thank you for this link.  It is another great tool to have available.
Just to add to things, I know adware and popup blocker programs have been blocking some sites without a Privacy Policy.
I have personally experienced this even though I do not have any of the previously mentioned items on my sites.
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MrPhil
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« Reply #11 on: September 22, 2008, 11:08:17 AM »

I know adware and popup blocker programs have been blocking some sites without a Privacy Policy.
I have personally experienced this even though I do not have any of the previously mentioned items on my sites.

Interesting. What are these blockers looking for in a site? A page by a specific name and with specific content (format)? An XML file? Is there some sort of public document describing this (something like a Google sitemap)? Is this Privacy Policy a W3C mandate, or something that some adware site cooked up?

I wonder what information this PPG mentioned above is collecting on its  users...
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sidewinder
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« Reply #12 on: September 23, 2008, 07:09:07 AM »

My guess is that we are being welcomed to the era of the nanny state. 
We can't take care of ourselves, so they will take care of us for us.  Confused
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bryantrv
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« Reply #13 on: September 24, 2008, 03:55:33 AM »

I believe some applications look for a P3P, "machine readable" file, which is, I think, and xml file.- http://www.w3.org/P3P/ 
If you look around, there are a couple of free p3p generators- IBM has a java based one which I have, though I havn't done anything with it yet.
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