Making a site, do I need terms of use and privacy policy?

mattgaunt

mattgaunt

mattgaunt

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Hey everyone

I'm making a website as part of my university course (My slightly relaxing module for the year ;))

Anyway Im planning on making a website that will store some user info, such as name, e-mail D.O.B the usual and then some event information for that user.

Now I have no intention what so ever of abusing this information, giving it out, or selling it, but that being said if my site gets hacked I dont want to get blamed for it (I seriously doubt anyone will use the site anyway, and even if they do no serious information should be given out apart from password).

So what do I do in terms of the 'Terms of Use and Privacy Policy' parts of the page, ignore it? put something in that just says I dont except any responsibility for the information that is kept on the site.

Just wondered if anyone could give me some help? The site won't go life for a long time anyway, but just planning ahead is all.

Cheers,
Matt
 
Terms and Conditions are only only required if you are selling something or providing a service, unless you can think of something important that you need to state. [PS. a disclaimer about the site content doesn't wash, because you *are* responsible for the information on the site]

A privacy policy isn't require either, but it's always a good idea. Some people make a point of not linking to sites that don't have an acceptable, published P3P policy, but regardless, it's a common courtesy and will help people take your site seriously. There are loads of policy generators around:

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=pr...s=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a

Take your pick...

I can't offer more specific advice without know more about your site and what you are planning to do.
 
Well the website is just a simple to-do list essentially, nothing more, nothing less.

But i will be storing the information of the users name, D.O.B, password and obcourse anything they put on the site, obviously I wont mis-use this information and accept that responsibility, but what happens in the event that my server gets hacked, this is my only real concern?

I understand that terms and conditions i need to mention my right to terminate the user accounts if the service isn't used appropriately etc. but yeah I've never really considered this sort of stuff before I wanted someone elses opinion, I'll look into your link.

Thanks for the help
 
Ok, so you really ought to have T&Cs displayed, and a privacy policy. The privacy policy will state specifically how you will use their data; i.e. store/not sell, use only email address for site administration etc.

You can't do much about hackers; keep your server up to date (etc) and cover yourself against SQL injection. Make sure the DB is in a location not accessible from the web, and use a one-way hash (e.g. MD5) to store the passwords.
 
i seriosuly can't see any reason you'd need a t&c at this stage but then i have no experience in this what so ever it just seems ridiculous for a site that is a university project to need this sort of stuff. worst case if someone sued you surely all they could do is ask you to remove the site/content. you aren't a business so not like you will be sued and lose your house or anything. again want to say i have no experience with this. would be great if someone with proper knowledge can confirm
 
Mammalian said:
i seriosuly can't see any reason you'd need a t&c at this stage but then i have no experience in this what so ever ....you aren't a business so not like you will be sued and lose your house or anything. again want to say i have no experience with this. would be great if someone with proper knowledge can confirm
Click to expand...

So you reckon he should miss out a few simple pages on the basis that you (a lawyer?) reckon that he might be able to survive getting sued?

For the record, he could easily get sued if he did the wrong things, but not being part of a limited company means that he would personally face any losses. The 'limited' in a company name indicates that the company liabilities are limited either by shares or by guarantee.

Anyway, what happened to aiming high? Doing a good job? Isn't the point of university to prepare for a career?
 
cjmUK said:
So you reckon he should miss out a few simple pages on the basis that you (a lawyer?) reckon that he might be able to survive getting sued?

For the record, he could easily get sued if he did the wrong things, but not being part of a limited company means that he would personally face any losses. The 'limited' in a company name indicates that the company liabilities are limited either by shares or by guarantee.

Anyway, what happened to aiming high? Doing a good job? Isn't the point of university to prepare for a career?
Click to expand...

:) yes i'm a lawyer and a very good one thank you. how did you know as i try and hide it on these forums?
 
Hey guys

Well nice to know this isn't just me who is torn between having and not having this, I found a free privacy policy creator so I've used that, while it is only a university project, I do intend to extend it to a project I work on over the next summer & next year.

I'll google around for some info on terms & conditions, the main issue is that Im not offering this service through a company, just little old me offering up the idea to the open source community. The service will be free, any money made will be from advertising and maybe later on from donations if the project gets any interest.

It's just nice to know I'm not going crazy thinking I need this sort of info, I'll probably discuss the matter with my lecturer and see what his view are.
 
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