Privacy policy vs terms and conditions: what’s the difference, and what do you need for your business?
The way they differ from one another is because a privacy policy protects your users’ rights, whilst terms and conditions protect you and your site/app/services rights. Privacy policies define how you interact with user data, whereas terms and conditions provide the ground rules for accessing your site.
Let’s go into a little more detail…
Understanding the distinction between a Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions is crucial for any business owner. These documents serve as a foundation for protecting rights—the Privacy Policy safeguards your users’ personal data, while Terms and Conditions (often referred to as Terms of Service or Terms of Use) establish the rules for your website or app’s use.
Privacy policies detail your practices regarding user data: how it’s collected, used, and protected, plus users’ rights over their data. Conversely, Terms and Conditions set forth the legal agreements between your service and its users, including usage guidelines, sale modalities, rights, and liabilities.
Let’s take a deeper look into the differences.
This article is a part of our series on compliance for websites and apps. Read also:
A privacy policy is a legal requirement almost everywhere in the world. If you’re collecting and processing data of any kind, then you’ll likely need a privacy policy.
As for terms and conditions, they’re not always mandatory, but still recommended in many cases. Terms and conditions are the documents governing the contractual relationship between the provider of a service (that’s you, the business owner) and its user (anyone visiting or engaging with your online business). So, it is in the website or business owner’s best interest to create detailed terms and conditions.
You can check out this article for a more in-depth look into whether or not you actually need terms and conditions. Or just take our 1-minute quiz!
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Yes, a Privacy Policy is legally required in many jurisdictions for data collection, and Terms and Conditions are highly recommended for establishing legal agreements with users.
Terms of Use (or Terms and Conditions) outline the legal agreements regarding the use of your site or app, including user responsibilities and limitations. A Privacy Policy details how user data is collected, used, and protected.
A Privacy Policy is a public-facing document detailing your data handling practices, while a Data Protection Agreement is often a more specific contract between two parties regarding the handling and protection of data.
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