Error #4 – Contradicting Your Website’s Documents
If you use a terms of use, privacy policy, or refund policy on your site that contradicts the way you actually run your online business, you could actually be opening yourself up to additional legal claims by unhappy clients and government agencies investigating false and deceptive trade practices.
Related Article – 7 Keys To Picking the Right Internet Lawyer For Your Business
Did you know that there are government agencies that have employees go undercover as clients to see if website owners are violating the law?
Did you also know that there are Internet trial lawyers who specialize in representing unhappy clients in class action lawsuits against Internet business owners who break the law? Sometimes these lawyers hit the jackpot with multimillion dollar awards from sympathetic juries.
Error #5 – Hiding Your Legal Documents
Even if you have great website legal documents prepared by a qualified Internet business lawyer, you can expose yourself to legal liability by hiding these documents on your website.
How does this happen?
Frequently, website owners make the mistake of putting the hyperlinks to their privacy policies, terms of use, and other site legal docs in small font at the bottom of the page that is hard to see. These links should be at least the same size as the main text on the page (and other hyperlinks on the page).
To make matters worse, some websites have these legal links hidden on a dark background. For example, the hyperlink will be in small gray text on a gray background, making it almost impossible for website visitors to see the links. This can be considered a deceptive trade practice.
A good rule of thumb is to use a white background and dark text for your website’s legal-related hyperlinks. Let the website visitor make an informed decision rather than hiding the legalese.
If you want to reduce your online legal risks, perhaps it’s time to invest in our firm’s Website Legal Protection Package.
