Preparation of technical documentation for websites

In a world where online presence becomes a key factor for business success, ensuring legal clarity and protection for both you and your users is of critical importance. Properly constructed documentation for a website not only creates a foundation for trust and confidence but also ensures compliance with legal standards and data security norms. All this, in turn, helps avoid not only penalties from regulatory bodies but also unnecessary conflicts between website users and its owners.

Depending on the jurisdiction of company registration, requirements for legal information and documentation on the website may vary. However, mandatory documentation for a website always includes a number of key elements necessary to ensure legal clarity, data protection, and establish relationships between the site owner and its users.

So what documents are needed for a website? Usually, the main components of mandatory legal documentation for a website include:

• Personal Data Privacy Policy (for the website) - in general, most websites, one way or another, collect personal data of users for various purposes, including service personalization, advertising targeting, and improving user experience. This is part of standard practice for most online platforms. Therefore, the Privacy Policy is a "must-have" document for most online businesses. This is a document that explains what personal data is collected from site users, how it is used, with whom it may be shared, and how users can control their data. This document is especially relevant for online businesses that are, in particular, registered in the EU and/or have clients from the EU, as then there is an obligation to comply with the requirements of the European General Data Protection Regulation (so-called GDPR).
• Cookie Policy - a detailed description of how the site uses cookies and other tracking technologies, how they are collected and used to track user behavior on the web platform.
• Terms of Use; Terms and Conditions - a document that establishes the rules and conditions under which users can use your site, including liability limitations, content usage rules, and more.
• Disclaimer - a declaration that the site owners disclaim responsibility for the use of information on the site and for any consequences of using this information without conducting a professional consultation.
• Public Offer Agreement - a legal online document that establishes the conditions under which goods or services are offered for general review, their description, price, and terms of purchase.
• Contact Information - all policies and agreements should contain the company's contact information for users who have questions or complaints.

Profile documentation for websites

Each type of activity that a company engages in, which is represented in the online space, has its unique requirements for documentation on the site. Therefore, in addition to the mandatory documentation listed above, additional profile documents are applied. Let's consider them using the example of the most popular types of activities:

IT/Software Developers:

• License agreement or licensing policy
• Support and maintenance terms

Traffic Arbitrage:

• Rules for using the arbitrage system
• Extended disclaimer rules

E-commerce:

• Return policy
• Delivery and payment terms
• Software license agreement (if used)

Consulting and Marketing Services:

• Terms of service
• Service agreement
• Client agreement
• Payment and calculation terms

Educational and Training Platforms:

• Terms of use
• Course access terms
• Rules for using materials

This is just a general list of documents that may be additionally needed for different types of activities on the site.

Legal support for websites

It's important to understand that legal documents for a website should be adapted to the specific type of business activity and the requirements of the legislation of the country of registration. Each type of activity has its unique needs and requirements, and appropriate documentation helps ensure legal clarity and protection for both the site owner and its users.

In addition, responsibility for the lack of documentation on the site can have serious consequences for the business, including legal sanctions, conflicts and legal disputes, loss of user trust, and financial losses in the form of fines and lost customers. Therefore, it is important to comply with all legal requirements, clearly know what documents are needed to open a website, and ensure legal protection of your business by drafting proper legal documentation on the site.

Campio Group lawyers, who specialize in developing legal documentation for specific business needs, can help with this. We will help create all necessary documents, such as Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, Client Agreements, and others for your business's individual goals.