A Terms and Conditions agreement acts as a legal contract between you (the company) and the user. It’s where you maintain your rights to exclude users from your app in the event that they abuse your website/app, set out the rules for using your service and note other important details and disclaimers.
Having a Terms and Conditions agreement is completely optional. No laws require you to have one. Not even the super-strict and wide-reaching General Data Protection Regulation GDPR.
Your Terms and Conditions agreement will be uniquely yours. While some clauses are standard and commonly seen in pretty much every Terms and Conditions agreement, it’s up to you to set the rules and guidelines that the user must agree to.
Terms and Conditions agreements are also known as Terms of Service or Terms of Use agreements. These terms are interchangeable, practically speaking. More rarely, it may be called something like an End User Services Agreement (EUSA).
You can use this agreement anywhere, regardless of what platform your business operates on:
Websites
WordPress blogs or blogs on any kind of platform: Joomla!, Drupal etc.
Ecommerce stores
Mobile apps
Facebook apps
Desktop apps
SaaS apps
Desktop apps usually have an EULA (End-User License Agreement) instead of a Terms and Conditions agreement, but your business can use both. Mobile apps are increasingly using Terms and Conditions along with an EULA if the mobile app has an online service component, i.e. it connects with a server.
A Terms and Conditions is not required and it’s not mandatory by law.
Unlike Privacy Policies, which are required by laws such as the GDPR, CalOPP and many others, there’s no law or regulation on Terms and Conditions.
However, having a Terms and Conditions gives you the right to terminate the access of abusive users or to terminate the access to users who do not follow your rules and guidelines, as well as other desirable business benefits.
It’s extremely important to have this agreement if you operate a SaaS app.
Here are a few examples of how this agreement can help you:
If users abuse your website or mobile app in any way, you can terminate their account. Your “Termination” clause can inform users that their accounts would be terminated if they abuse your service.
If users can post content on your website or mobile app (create content and share it on your platform), you can remove any content they created if it infringes copyright. Your Terms and Conditions will inform users that they can only create and/or share content they own rights to. Similarly, if users can register for an account and choose a username, you can inform users that they are not allowed to choose usernames that may infringe trademarks, i.e. usernames like Google, Facebook, and so on.
If you sell products or services, you could cancel specific orders if a product price is incorrect. Your Terms and Conditions can include a clause to inform users that certain orders, at your sole discretion, can be canceled if the products ordered have incorrect prices due to various errors.
And many more examples.
In summary, while you do not legally need a Terms and Conditions agreement, there are many many reasons for you to have one. Not only will it make your business look more professional and trustworthy, but you’ll also be maintaining more control over how your users are able to interact with your platforms and content.
