MAKE YOUR FREE Website terms and conditions

Use these online terms and conditions to govern the use of a website and to set out the legal rights and obligations between you and users.

This document is GDPR compliant.

Use these website terms and conditions:

• to set out the legal rights and obligations between you and website users

• when the users of your website will be at least 18 years old

• when users will visit the website, download and contribute information in a personal capacity

These website terms and conditions cover:

• acceptable use of the website
• prohibited use of the website
• registration, password and security
• linked websites
• availability of the website
• disclaimers and limitation of liability

Website terms and conditions (or 'website terms of use') provide information about a website's content and how visitors are and aren't permitted to use it.

If you have a website, it's a good idea to create website terms of service. 

Website terms of use help to ensure that customers and users know how a website can and can't be used. They set out the rights and obligations of the users and limit the owner's potential liability.

For more information, read Website terms of use.

Website terms and conditions apply to any users or visitors of your website.

If a business operates a website, the business’ (registered) address needs to be provided in the website terms and conditions. Businesses that advertise their goods or services online must provide the following information on their websites to comply with the Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002:

• name

• geographical address (a PO Box address is not acceptable) 

• email

• company registration number (if applicable)

• registered address

• details of any registration or authorisation schemes to which you belong

• details of any professional bodies or trade organisations to which you belong

• VAT number (if applicable)

Website terms and conditions contain provisions dealing with access to and use of the website. As a website owner, you may rely on such terms to help prevent:

• unauthorised access to your website
• disclosures of security information by users
• unauthorised reproduction of the material contained on the website
• unacceptable user behaviour such as hacking, introducing viruses and the uploading of illegal or defamatory content

For more information, read Website terms of use.

These website terms of use allow website owners to choose what a user can do with the content on a website.

You can allow users to use a website's content for personal, non-commercial purposes in the following ways:

• displaying and viewing the content of the website
• downloading and storing the content in electronic form
• printing one copy of the content
• uploading content to the website

For more information, read Website terms of use.

Users may not upload, distribute or otherwise publish content that: 

• is confidential
• is false
• is fraudulent
• is defamatory
• is threatening
• is invasive of privacy
• infringes intellectual property
• is illegal
• encourages criminal offence

They also aren't allowed to make or store electronic copies of content protected by copyright without the permission of the owners. For more information, read Website terms of use.

If you allow website users to add links to other websites on your website, you can choose to limit your liability for the content of other sites that are not under your control.

A Privacy policy or data protection policy is a statement of how you handle personal information given to you by your customers.

In the UK, the main legislation governing the collection, processing and distribution of personal data is the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). When you run a website, you are most likely to be handling personal information, because you keep records of your customers or website users. A website privacy policy helps build trust in your website and informs your visitors how their personal data is protected.

For more information, read Data protection.

If you set cookies and choose to collect information from cookies, you must tell your users and explain what the cookies do and why you are collecting cookies. You must also get the user's consent. Consent must be actively and clearly given.

Consider creating a Cookie policy.

Valid consent must be freely given, specific and informed. It must involve some form of unambiguous positive action (eg ticking a box or clicking a link). You cannot show consent if you only provide information about cookies as part of a privacy policy that is hard to find, difficult to understand or rarely read. For more information, read Data privacy and cookies and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) guidance.

Ask a lawyer for advice:

• if this document doesn't meet your specific needs

These website terms and conditions are governed by the law of England, Wales and Scotland.