Subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts or Android.
For this episode I thought it would be good to revisit a conversation I had with Sarah Dixon from the Contract Store on what details and documents we need to have on the website to make sure we don’t fall foul of the law.
We cover all the fun stuff from Ecommerce terms and conditions to GDPR. Enjoy!
👋 If you found this podcast interesting you might like my Marketing Club. Join to receive regular tips and advice on marketing, video and the web and Pro Members get access to my live marketing webinars every month, exclusive discounts and other perks. Find out more here https://ratherinventive.com/club/
Episode Notes
What you need on your website to be legal to make sure you don’t fall foul of the law
Sarah Dixon, Contract Store details the documents we need to have
There are different regulations cover this so it can get messy and confusing on the contract store website there is a document called website and legal notices and that sort of summarise it. Each document comes with lots of explanary notes.
Sarah Dixon, Contract store
You need to publically share
- Your company name
- Where your company is registered
- A registered business address
- An email contact
- An explanation of who you are i.e a charity, a CIC or sole trader etc
People need to know who you are and where you are… It’s kinda the equivalent of a a letter head, you just need to let people know who you are… It doesn’t have to be on every page of the website but very commonly this information can be found in the footer so it is readily available across the whole site.
Sarah Dixon, Constract Store
What if your business address is your personal address?
For smaller businesses who work from home, if you don’t want to share your home address pubically on the internet there are ways around this:
It is a really tricky one, make sure that you are complying to the point that you have an official public address. I do get the unease of putting your home address out there so you can be imaginative with this one. It maybe possible to register your company in a different location such as a co-working space, get a PO Box or even see if your web hosting company would maybe host your public address aswell?
Sarah Dixon, Contract Store
Once you start trading online you really need to have these things implemented
Sarah Dixon, Contract Store
Do you need to have Terms & Conditions on your website?
If really depends on your business, if you are trading online and selling on your website then, yes you must. You must put quite a bit of information on how you will handle the transaction, handle any refunds, delivery time and prices etc. If you are trading directly from your website then you can deal with your terms and conditions more privately by email. It could be useful to have this information online as it allows people to see this before they form a relationship with you and have clarity on how the transaction will be handled.
Sarah Dixon, Contract Store
GDPR: Privacy & Collecting Personal Data
The first step is to do an audit of what data you are collecting and when you collect personally identificable data i.e. name, address, contact details or any other details which could identify that person in some ways. You need to basically justify why you are collecting it, where you are storing it, how well you are looking after it and how can you cope with it if someone wants their data to be deleted.
Sarah Dixon, Contract Store
You need to be transparent about the third party data systems you are using and let the user decide if they are ok with the third parties Terms & Conditions. Giving you a little less responsibility on how that data is stored.
Sarah Dixon, Contract Store
Summary of what you need on your website
You need to have a privacy policy on your website, if you are registered with any professional bodies… you do need have a cookie notice so visitors know you are collecting their data, the optional areas are a copyright notice. Your terms and conditions you must share if you are trading on your website…
Sarah Dixon, Contract Store
Checking Service on your policies
You can bring your policies and T&C’s to Contract Store, or take them to any lawyer to proof. Make sure don’t simply copy and paste your policies from other companies, if you do make sure you read through it and that it applies to you and your business.
Sarah Dixon, Contract Store
