Privacy and legal obligations are both very important in terms of protecting a business owner’s interests. For one, it ensures that you place a disclaimer on the limit and coverage of your liability in case something goes wrong.  Second, it allows you to fully dictate what you are as a company and what you do.  Finally, it is the first legal defence that you have in terms of lawsuits.

With many businesses transitioning developments, a lot of business owners are now asking this one question:  What should my website’s terms and conditions say so I can stay protected for a long time?

The answer is not in just one thing.  Your terms and conditions should reflect much more than just what is dictated. It should be flexible and ever changing.  It should always adapt to the governing law and whatever law has jurisdiction over the business.

For full protection, it must include and say the following items:

• Who is covered by the Terms and Conditions of Use? Your websites Terms should provide who is actually covered by it.  In Australian law, this would include the users, customers, and the subscribers of the website.

1. It should cover your customers because it offers protection of the business in case of liability and in case problems should arise.
2. It should also cover your visitors, users, and subscribers to protect you from any person who would try to copy the content of your website. Plagiarism is a very serious matter.

• Your terms and conditions should show a governing law. A governing law is the general law that would cover the business and in case there is a problem with the product or service you offer.  Generally, the governing law is the place of registration of the business.  It is advisable to only apply other laws, including international law, when the business has already grown to scale.
• You should also provide whatever is required by law. For Australian businesses, the Australian Consumer Law should provides that the following items must be in the terms and conditions:

1. A statement that you actually comply and follow the Australian Consumer Law;
2. A statement on how the company is going to detail with product defects and when it would need to do a refund, some repair, or when replacement becomes necessary;
3. A statement explaining information about your guarantee; and
4. The details of your warranty.

• Other details that are necessary to be placed on your terms and conditions are the following:

1. For those who are selling a product, it is important to provide details of the products, the expected delivery times, the terms of payment, and the kinds of payment that the company would accept.
2. A cancellation policy should also be provided.
3. If the company offers a subscription, the terms and conditions of such subscription should be included here.

• The privacy of your clients are also important as well as other legalities should be in this document, they are the following:

1. Limitation of your liability as a company.
2. Notification that you are using data collection policies compliant with the requirements of your country and compliant with the requirements of international law when it comes to data privacy.
3. A warning on plagiarism and liability for copying.
4. All other Terms that are required of you.

Now that you know the items that should be include in your company’s Terms and Conditions, it is important to always be updated with all of the latest requirements of your government and governing law. Your Terms and Conditions should be the most flexible part of your website just so you can protect yourself with any kind of liability.