Short answer, no.
You don’t need a lawyer to write your Terms of Use & Privacy Policy for your website and/or app. There are numerous articles and templates online that will provide enough instruction on the subject to produce a policy that seems to satisfy your needs. But do you know what your needs really are? Do you know what interests specific to your business you need to protect? Do you know how to legally protect those interests? Do you know how to best protect yourself personally? The reality is, online sources are structured to produce the same basic policies for “typical websites”. What is a typical website? Is your website typical? As previously stated, it’s not necessary to have a lawyer draft these documents so if you’re comfortable with personally drafting them, then by all means, stop reading here.
The Benefits
The advantage of using a lawyer to draft your Terms of Use & Privacy Policy is that the documents will be specific to your website and/or app and particular business. Not only will a lawyer draft these documents in a way that protects your business at that time but also to have these documents look to the future to protect your business as it develops, providing you with the time to focus on the growth of your business and not Terms of Use 101.
Generally, Terms of Use should do a number of things, including, prevent misuse of your website and/or app, specify you have the right to the content, provide certainty as to what is agreed upon between the business and user by the user using the website and/or app, provide the business with an enforceable agreement, minimize the likelihood of legal disputes, and overall, set out expectations.
However, there are other significant considerations that, if overlooked, could create legal turmoil for your business. For instance:
Does your website/app require users to provide personal information? If so, perhaps you should consider the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), as it sets out the ground rules for how businesses must handle personal information in the course of commercial activity.
Do funds flow through your website/app? If so, then you may need to consider the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act.
Do you display any trademarks or information that is subject to copyright on your website? If so, consulting a lawyer might be the best way to protect your intellectual property rights from the get go.
These are only some of the issues that a lawyer can highlight and if required, include in your Terms of Use & Privacy Policy. If you have any questions or want to speak with a lawyer about drafting your website and/or app’s Terms of Use or Privacy Policy, call Aluvion Law today!
