Currently, any company, professional or self-employed that wants to publicize its products or services, to its potential clients or users, must have a web page, but in addition to having good advice on marketing, positioning or social networks, be especially attentive to ensure that your website complies with all the requirements required by Laws.
It is important to know which are the legal texts that your website must include and make sure to review it and keep it updated according to current laws.
The main legal texts required in a web page are:
- TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE (LEGAL NOTICE).
- PRIVACY POLICY
- COOKIES POLICY
For e-commerce websites, also GENERAL CONTRACTING CONDITIONS must be included, which we will discuss in another post.
Información detallada
What do they consist of and what are the main requirements of these documents?
The Information Society Services Law requires that the user of the web (or app) must be provided with the following general information:
Name or company name, contact data, tax identification number, registration data in the Mercantile Registry, data on administrative authorizations such as licenses, professional association data and collegiate number, code of conduct to which it is attached and manner of consult it. In the case of online commerce provide the user with clear information of the price of the product or service, if you include taxes and / or shipping.
This information must be recorded in the LEGAL NOTICE.
Although the law does not require it, it is advisable to include the following information in the LEGAL NOTICE to avoid future problems:
- General conditions of use indicating the requirements for the use of the web.
- Intellectual property and use of the content, indicating who is the owner of the content (photos, logos, etc.) and whether or not we authorize their reproduction or sharing it on other sites.
- Exclusion of own responsibilities (always within the limits established by law), for example due to external links that are included on the web or due to the consequences of the use of the content by the user.
- Jurisdiction and applicable legislation in case of conflict.
This information must be provided by the owner or person in charge of the website, permanently, easy to consult, direct, clear and free.
What are COOKIES?
Online service providers may use data storage and retrieval devices on recipients’ terminal equipment, provided that they have given their consent after they have been provided with clear and complete information on their use, and in particular, about the purposes of data processing.
We have the obligation to clearly and completely inform the user of our website about the use and purpose of cookies, offering them the possibility of rejecting the processing of data through a simple and free procedure (basically by deactivating them in the browser).
We must analyse if our website uses cookies (the answer is most likely yes) and if we must adapt our website to the legislation.
Although the cookies that are necessary to provide the service expressly requested by the user and to allow communication between the user’s equipment and the web are exempt, it is also recommended to indicate their use in the COOKIES POLICY document.
Regarding the rest of the non-exempt cookies, whether they are your own or those of third parties, you must inform and obtain the user’s consent. The most common are those used to obtain statistics on visits received and to display advertising tailored to user preferences.
There are different types of cookies: Depending on the entity that manages them (own or third-party), their purpose (technical, preferences, personalization, analysis or measurement, behavioural advertising) and the period in which they remain activated (session or persistent).
If a web page uses this type of cookies it is necessary to inform the user and obtain their prior consent. Failure to comply with this requirement implies incurring a legal infraction that may be subject to sanction.
Finally, if a website collects personal data, it is mandatory to include a legal document named PRIVACY POLICY.
The collection of data through a website is very common, either through contact forms, user registration, online stores, data collection for payments, etc. Only those data that are essential to comply with the proposed purposes.
The information that our PRIVACY POLICY document must include is: The identity and contact information of the person responsible for data processing, purpose of the treatment to which the personal data provided by the user is destined, legal basis of its treatment, recipients of the data, if there is an intention to carry out international data transfers, period during which the data is kept, existence of the right to withdraw consent, right to file a claim with the supervisory authority, if the communication of personal data is a legal or contractual requirement and the consequences of not providing the data, if there are automated decisions, including the elaboration of a profile, the source from which the data comes (if it has not been provided by the interested party), and the possibility of exercising ARCO rights (access, rectification, cancellation, opposition and portability ) simply and free of charge.
This information must be made available to the interested party at the time the data is requested, prior to its collection or registration.
It is important to review our website and make sure that we have all the legal documents cited properly updated.