Unlimited peace of mind for your website.

Clear Sight Design LLC partners with Termageddon to provide comprehensive auto-updating website policies for website clients.

1. What is a Privacy Policy?

A Privacy Policy helps website owners comply with privacy laws by providing specific disclosure requirements such as how their website collects, uses, and discloses personally identifiable information as well as all the disclosures required by the privacy laws that apply to you.

A comprehensive Privacy Policy is required to comply with privacy laws
Today’s modern websites are built to provide a great user experience and motivate prospective customers to reach out and inquire about what you have to offer. This is done through the use of tools such as contact forms, website analytics, and more.

Contact forms ask users to submit their ‘name’ and ‘email’, which are examples of personally identifiable information. When a website uses analytics, it collects each visitor’s IP address and shares that personally identifiable information with third-party data analytics providers. These are just a few examples of the many ways websites collect and share personally identifiable information. 

Penalties for non-compliance
The collection of personally identifiable information is regulated under multiple privacy laws. For example, in the US, there are numerous state privacy laws that can apply to businesses, regardless of their location, and fines for non-compliance start at $2,500 per “infringement” (per website visitor). Each of these privacy laws has specific disclosure requirements that have to be added to your Privacy Policy to be compliant.It’s also important to note that privacy laws in other countries could apply to you if you collect the personal information of, do business with, or provide services to residents of those countries. 

On top of that, over two dozen privacy bills have been proposed on a state-level, each with their own unique disclosure requirements and penalties for not complying. If passed, some of these bills would enable citizens to sue businesses (of any size or location) for collecting their personally identifiable information without an up to date and compliant Privacy Policy. Due to the ever-changing nature of privacy laws, we recommend that you not only have a comprehensive Privacy Policy in place but that you also develop a strategy to keep your policies up to date when these laws are amended or when new laws are implemented. 

Google requires your website to have a Privacy Policy
Outside of the legal requirements, Privacy Policies are required to use popular third-party tools. For example, a website utilizing Google Analytics is required by Google to have a Privacy Policy. You can find this requirement within section 7 of Google’s Terms of Service: https://marketingplatform.google.com/about/analytics/terms/us/ Google has also recently announced that it is requiring all websites using AdSense to have a cookie consent banner since AdSense uses cookies and collects personally identifiable information, which is regulated under multiple privacy laws. Google is now required to ensure that websites using AdSense comply with those laws.

2. What is a Cookie Policy and cookie consent banner?

Cookies are little snippets of code that get inserted into the user’s browser and device when visiting a website. They can help ensure a website properly functions (aka essential and functional cookies). They can also track website visitors for analytics and advertising purposes (aka marketing cookies).  Several privacy laws require users to provide consent prior to implementing non-essential cookies on their browsers. This is commonly done through a cookie consent banner, which will ask your website visitors to choose their consent settings. It is important to identify what privacy laws apply to you, and determine if you are required to provide a cookie consent solution on your website along with a Cookie Policy further describing the purpose of each cookie.

Failure to capture consent for non-essential cookies or third party tracking technologies can result in significant fines or even lawsuits. Starting in 2024, for example, there has been a significant increase in lawsuits against US-based website owners (both small and large businesses and nonprofits) for non-compliance with CIPA (a law requiring consent from California visitors prior to tracking them with third party technologies which are embedded into a website). A comprehensive cookie consent solution helps website owners comply with these laws, helping them respect the rights of their website visitors, while also reducing the chances of lawsuits and non-compliance penalties.

3. What is a Terms of Service Agreement?

A Terms of Service Agreement limits the liability of businesses (aka helps reduce the risk of website-related lawsuits) by stating the rules for using the website. 

Example disclosures

Third-party links: When a website offers links tothird-party websites, a Terms of Service can help explain to users that the business is not responsible if a user clicks those links. So, if a third-party link brings a user to a hacked website, the Terms of Service disclosure can help prevent you from being sued. 

DMCA Notice: A Terms of Service agreement can also provide what’s called a DMCA notice, which helps prevent a business from being sued by providing contact information in case the website is accidentally using copyrighted material (like images or content). 

There are many additional disclosures that a Terms of Service can make, but these two are the most popular and are easy ways to protect your website and your business.

4. What is a Disclaimer?

A Disclaimer is a document that helps limit your responsibilities and liabilities for your website in certain circumstances.

Does your website:

Advertise third-party products or services? A Disclaimer will help you protect yourself if a user clicks on the third-party advertisement and gets a virus, is somehow injured by the product or service, or is not happy with the third-party product or service

Sell or display health products? A Disclaimer will help you protect yourself in this case if the health products do not work as they should, do not deliver the results that were expected or if the user gets injured by the health products.

Participate in an affiliate program? An affiliate program is a program whereby you list a particular link on your website and, if the user clicks on that link or purchases the products that the link displays, you receive money from the manufacturer of that product. A Disclaimer will help you comply with the affiliate program’s Terms of Service as most affiliate programs require you to provide a Disclaimer and will help you keep your user’s trust.

Provide health and fitness advice? A Disclaimer will protect you in case the user gets injured after following your health and fitness advice, much like the beginning of those exercise videos that you will watch in January of next year.

Provide information that could be seen by others as legal advice? A Disclaimer will protect you by stating that there is no attorney client relationship and that this advice is not legal advice, thus protecting you in case something goes wrong.

How to obtain website policies

If you have the budget, I recommend hiring a lawyer who focuses on privacy law to write your website policies, monitor privacy laws, and update your policies when the laws change or when new laws go into effect. If you do not have the budget to hire a privacy lawyer for your website policies, I recommend using Termageddon. 

Termageddon is a comprehensive website policies generator and will update your policies when privacy laws change or new privacy laws go into effect, helping you stay compliant and avoid privacy-related fines and lawsuits, and they do it at a fraction of the cost of a lawyer.

Although Termageddon is a technology company (not a legal services provider), it was founded by a privacy and contracts lawyer, and the tool has been recognized as a trusted tech vendor by the largest international privacy organization in the world (iapp.org).

If Termageddon sounds like a good solution for your business, it is included in the Unlimited Plus subscription.

You will have full access to your policies with your own Termageddon account, and you will be notified when new laws go into effect, when your policies are being updated, or when new disclosures require additional questions that need to be answered.

Clear Sight Design LLC is not a law firm. Andy Rhodenbaugh is NOT a lawyer. Neither provides legal advice.

Clear Sight Design LLC partners with AccessiBe to provide ADA compliance for website clients.

See the little blue human icon in the bottom right-hand corner of my website? That’s the AccessiBe widget that makes my website ADA-compliant.

According to AccessiBe’s website:

“Enacted in 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a civil rights law that grants the disability community equal access to public accommodations, employment, and services. 

The ADA prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in all sectors of society, such as in colleges, public transportation, public buildings (e.g., hospitals and libraries), and private businesses that are open to the public. These include restaurants, banks, real estate agencies, hotels, and many other organizations. 

The internet is increasingly where we communicate, engage, and make purchases. For the billions of people who live with a disability, the internet can feel like a series of closed doors. That’s where web accessibility comes in.

In 2018, the DOJ clarified that websites are considered places of public accommodation and must comply with ADA Title III. In 2022, the DOJ reaffirmed it and recommended WCAG 2.1 AA as the best practice.

Accessibility  is the right thing to do, good for business, and required  of everyone.

Compliance is required of businesses of all sizes. Some high-profile lawsuits, such as Dominos, Beyoncé, and Kylie Jenner, highlight the fact that no one is above the law when it comes to the ADA.

ADA website compliance is about much more than mitigating litigation risk — it's about giving the disability communities an inclusive web experience they rightfully deserve.

And, with 16% of the global population having a disability, ADA website compliance is a critical consideration for organizations of all kinds. 

Accessing the internet should be a basic right for all, and you can do your part to promote anti-discrimination. Having an ADA-compliant and accessible website is a great place to start.”

Accessibility can also have a positive effect on your website’s SEO, with one study showing that websites with higher accessibility scores enjoyed an average 23% increase in organic traffic.

Clear Sight Design LLC is not a law firm. Andy Rhodenbaugh is NOT a lawyer. Neither provides legal advice.

Once you purchase the Unlimited Plus subscription, you will receive your own Termageddon and AccessiBe accounts.

I’ll guide you through how to set up each and install them on your website in the correct places and ensure they match your website branding.

Once installed, you will have peace of mind that your website is legally protected and ADA compliant, making your website a safer, more accessible place of business.

If you decide to end your Unlimited Plus subscription after the required six months, you will retain your website policies and ADA compliance widget.

Your Termageddon and AccessiBe accounts will be converted into personal accounts, and when your annual subscription payments are due, you will be required to pay your fees directly to Termageddon and AccessiBe to continue utilizing their services.

Personal Termageddon account pricing can be found here.

Personal AccessiBe account pricing can be found here.