Why You Need Terms and Conditions for Your Mobile App
When you create a mobile app, you are offering a product or service of sorts. For any product or service, it is important legally to have terms and conditions of use. This is equally true for mobile apps. For users, the terms and conditions govern their use of your mobile app. Suppose that the terms and conditions prohibit certain types of behaviour such as spamming or racial abuse. If a user manifests such behaviour, then you can, having given a prior warning, terminate the user’s use of the app without legal repercussions. This is a big advantage, especially when you consider that some users will not be likeable. For owners, the terms and conditions protect the business offering the app. The terms and conditions act as a legal contract with the user . If the user agrees to, say, indemnify you against their use of the app, then if you are sued by someone for damage caused in your app by the user, you will have strong legal grounds to sue the user. In addition, NOT having terms and conditions may expose you to liability. Suppose that someone is injured in the course of using your app. Having the terms and conditions governs the use of your services to the accepted risks associated with them and prevents the user from claiming damages against you. In other words, chances are that every mobile app developer needs terms and conditions for those unpleasant things of life. Take out insurance and have a solid, legally enforceable contract in place to handle the unexpected.
What Your Terms and Conditions for Mobile Apps Should Include
Drafting mobile app terms and conditions for the first time can be daunting, but it’s essential that you include several key elements that any responsible app developer would want to have in place. You will need to include the scope of the license you are granting (which is usually a limited, personal, non-exclusive license), as well as certain restrictions imposing limitations on the use of your app by users.
You may also want the provisions of your mobile app Terms and Conditions to remain in full force and effect after termination, restricting your users’ ability to access or continue to use your app, or to more generally limit the enforceability of your Terms and Conditions, such as any provisions that are not enforceable or that do not apply such as in the event of a particular non-fraudulent act. Your Terms and Conditions should also contain your choice of forum (where you want disputes raised in relation to your Terms and Conditions resolved, in the event it is necessary), as well as a choice of law provision that dictates what law governs the Terms and Conditions.
It is also usually useful to have a privacy policy available to provide to your users a description of the level of privacy and protection provided to them. You may want the privacy policy to be a link to your Privacy Policy within the Terms and Conditions, or to specify that the Privacy Policy is incorporated within the Terms and Conditions by reference, rather than repeating the language that is already included in the Privacy Policy. A precise description of what constitutes acceptable use in relation to your app can be helpful in the event there are future disputes with users, and addresses what is acceptable use generally, as well as what is not.
How to Write Effective Terms and Conditions
When drafting a mobile app Terms and Conditions, it is important to consider all the potential risks involved and the rights you are granting to your users. In this regard, it is particularly important to ensure that the Terms and Conditions will be enforceable by clearly defining users’ rights and obligations and limiting the app provider’s liability.
The Terms and Conditions should be drafted in a way that is simple, concise and avoids any unnecessary legalese. In particular, it is advisable to use a separate clause for each provision of the Terms and Conditions rather than having a single clause with multiple paragraphs. This makes it easier for users to find specific provisions in the Terms and Conditions.
It is also recommended to use consistent wording for each of the relevant clauses in the Terms and Conditions and to cross-reference to other clauses to avoid making any conflicting provisions.
Phrases that may be interpreted as granting more rights than intended should be avoided, such as: "We reserve the right to modify or terminate the service…by providing notice to the user." This provision states that not only can the app provider close the service at any time without notice, but it can also do so by way of providing advance notice. It is better to choose one pathway. For example, you can say: "We reserve the right to modify or terminate the service without notice to the user." Or: "We will notify you before we terminate the service." Clear and concise drafting of Terms and Conditions is key in determining an app’s enforceability.
How to Create Terms and Conditions Using a Template
The most valuable perk of consulting a template generator to create terms and conditions is that you save time and money by creating a strong terms and conditions agreement that avoids mistakes and liability. A well-written terms and conditions agreement will keep your business from getting in trouble with the law or from facing liability from customers. It can also help you build a transparent relationship with your customers based on a strong understanding of what you expect out of them and what they can expect out of your business. A template generator will help you translate what you want and need into legally enforceable language without requiring you to spend large amounts of time or money on hiring an attorney.
How to Use a Template When Writing Terms and Conditions
After downloading an app terms and conditions template, you will need to customize the document as needed based on the particulars of your mobile application and/or website. This is your opportunity to clearly explain to customers how your service works, what kind of protections your company has in place and what kind of limitations those protections entail. Many customers do not read the terms and conditions on a website or mobile app – although they should, because these documents are legally binding agreements between you and the customer. If a customer thinks that he or she can use your mobile app for anything other than the purposes you specify , you limit your liability through an clearly written limitation of liability clause in your Terms and Conditions.
Simply relating to customers how your service works isn’t enough to provide the information they need or want – they also need to know about any changes you may make in the future. Will you start charging them for additional features? Will you ever add advertising onto the site or app? Even something as simple as enabling a particularly useful feature may be enough to disturb a customer if he or she was not previously aware of how it worked or that it was even available. In your app or web terms and conditions, include a section detailing how you may change your level of service over time.
Legal and Compliance Issues Related to Terms and Conditions
Terms and Conditions that address the specific needs of your business should reflect a solid understanding of current laws and comply with relevant regulations. Businesses should pay careful attention to the regulations that apply to their products and services, and are highly advised to seek a qualified legal professional for consultation throughout this process.
For instance, the inclusion of Draft Terms and Conditions can assist you in complying with the GDPR and COPPA. Adhering to GDPR is especially important if your business targets consumers in the EU. As a general rule, consumer data should be collected and retained to the degree it is necessary to complete transactions and deliver services or products, including customer service. Moreover, Terms and Conditions should include a Privacy Policy regarding the ways that collected data will be stored, used, and protected.
COPPA applies to all online services and websites directed to children under 13 that collect personal information from that age group. If you have services or products geared towards children under 13 you must:
Terms and Conditions can include clear procedures regarding the collection of data, storage, and sharing of personal information with third parties, including:
Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policies should provide readily accessible contact details to address to following questions:
It is important to note that Terms and Conditions, as well as Privacy Policies, can be implemented as:
How to Keep Your Terms and Conditions Up to Date
When you create your mobile app terms and conditions template, you should also think about how and when you will update the terms. Over time, both the law and your app(s) may change. In some cases, an update to the law means you need to revise your entire app’s terms. At other times, you may just need to include a new law disclaimer about something like data security, privacy, or data deletion.
As for app changes, anytime your app evolves from its original design, you may need to update your app terms and conditions. For example, let’s say your app originally only requires users to pay for a premium membership with a credit card. You later decide to offer users the option to upgrade to a premium membership fee with bitcoin. If you do not update your app terms and conditions, your users have no way of knowing bitcoin is an acceptable payment method.
It is a good idea for privacy and data security disclaimers to be updated at least once a year to reflect changes in the law. While you may not need to revise your app terms and conditions every other month to reflect app functionality changes, you should review the terms and conditions every six months. You may also want to revise and restate the terms and conditions when you change your app’s logo or branding to reflect the new branding efforts.
How to Present Terms and Conditions to Your Mobile App Users
Even if you have a separate mobile app privacy policy, you will need terms. And, like any set of terms, you will want to provide access to the terms in the app (as a "click-through" as described below), so user of the app checks a box indicating acceptance of the terms. This is especially true if your app, or services available through the app, use or collect personal information from users. This creates a record (through a back-end database or cookies), that the user agreed to your terms (or rejected your terms). Generally, it is a good idea to present a screen with a link to the terms at the time of downloading the app. This has proven effective in some instances in protecting companies (for example where the terms contain an arbitration provision). In addition , there should be a separate click-through that contains a check-box the user can manually select to indicate that he/she has read, understood and accepts your terms (or additionally/or alternatively, your privacy policy). This can happen either before downloading the app (usually for applications that run on iTunes) or during the set-up process (in any app). The terms should say the user agrees to the terms simply by using the app (that is selecting on the icon that launches the app). Users may also be asked to check a box acknowledging acceptance of the terms. As noted above, while the company does not want to over-rely on an "I accept" box, the company should be able to use it to show the user clicked the box indicating acceptance of the terms.