Putting your business online is the first step towards getting the expected increase in customers and clients. You can have an eCommerce store, your company’s website, or a social media website, but to really expand your business and easily reach out to your customers and clients you would need their information.
This information can simply be the name, email id, and contact number for a company website, may include address in case of an eCommerce website, and go on to include specifics like profile photo, religion, interests, political leanings, etc, in case of social media websites. If you are launching your own social media platform you would also be keeping track of the user’s posts, likes, dislikes, comments, friends, followers, stories, and what kind of content they regularly engage in.
The kind of information usually shared is commonly available on the internet but private nevertheless. Keeping in mind the wrongful usage of website data, there are several laws and governing policies that define what the user data can be used for.
The users, now, also want to know what you are doing with the information they provide. You will find sections like Privacy Policy, Terms of Use, Disclaimer, etc. in almost every website. The information related to the privacy of the submitted data and its prospective uses is presented in the terms of service and privacy policy of the website or online portal. Absence of such information is a violation of user’s rights and may attract lawsuits.
Privacy Policy:
Dealing specifically with the parameters of information being shared and the uses it would be put through, privacy policy for a website is a part of the terms-of-service agreement. Here you inform the user about the extent to which their shared information will be used. It should also display details about the type of information you are gathering and who is using it, you, or the firms you are selling it to, for example. This information is a must for e-commerce and social media websites.
Details your privacy policy should disclose at the minimum:
The information you are collecting indirectly or directly through your website.
The information you might be collecting in future.
List of method that you are using to collect, manage and share the data related/submitted by the customer, directly or indirectly.
A list of possible ways and scenarios in which you might be using the data related/submitted by the customer in the future.
How the information submitted by your users and customers might be collected and managed by third parties such as AdSense, Google Analytics, and others.
Terms of Service Agreement;
Every business transaction is done under certain terms and conditions. The terms of service agreement establishes a legal relationship between the service provider and the user and relays the conditions and terms under which the business is being conducted. It also contains the rights, responsibilities, and accountability for the user’s actions on the online platform. You should mention your liability in case any damage is incurred to the user due to the service you are providing in a disclaimer.
Service Level Agreement:
The SLA documentation includes the details about the services that are being offered by the provider. The details may include information about services, objectives, scope, responsibilities of the service provider, performance metrics like resolution time, response time, and details about penalties in case of exclusions or a breach in contract. The performance metrics for service level agreement may include specific performance benchmarks, uptime and availability percentage, response time, usage statistics.
Following are the details that must be mentioned in a service level agreement:
Agreement Overview includes the start date, parties involved, and introduction to the services
Description of Services includes all the details like offerings, turnaround time, dependencies, hours of operations, etc.
Exclusions or specific services that are not offered by the company should be clearly mentioned to avoid assumptions and confusions
List of metrics that would be used to measure the service performance
Redressal details like payment or compensation in case the provider fail to fulfil their Service Level Agreement
Stakeholder details to clearly define the parties involved
Security measures undertaken by the service provider
Risk Management and Disaster Recovery plan and process need to be clearly defined and mentioned
Service Tracking and Reporting structure along with details like stakeholders involved and tracking intervals
Details related to the Periodic Review and Change Processes along with the established KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) must be included
Details about the termination process of the agreement along with the required notice period should be mentioned in the SLA
Signature of all the authorized participants and stakeholders must be present on the final SLA document
The terms of service agreement, privacy policy, and service level agreement are a must-have for any SaaS product, for example, social media websites. With these documentations, you set the expectations on the operation of service, customer behaviour, and a general agreement between the customer and the vendor in relation to the service.
Not only do you assure the users about the authenticity of your venture but also secure your business against false lawsuits. Also, having these documentations will make you eligible for a payment gateway for your online business and will prevent false claims. Organizations like Vakilsearch can help you set up these documents through their team of legal experts.
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