Obtain Express Agreement to Terms of Use: Clickwrap? SOLVED

2
1.2K followers
Updated

Short Version

I need a way to get express agreement to my Terms of Use from my site's visitors.

implied agreement: assumed agreement, doesn't require any action
express agreement: explicit agreement, requires an action, such as providing a written or electronic signature or ticking a box before the user can access the service

To be clear, I'm not looking exclusively for a way to notify visitors that I use cookies. I'm looking for a way to prove they've consented to abide by (and be legally bound by) my Terms of Use.

Can the more internet savvy amongst you offer any advice? Are any of you doing this yet? If so, what method are you using?

I think a clickwrap may be the only solution, but I'm hoping I'm wrong.


Long Version


I need advice from the more learned of you, regarding how I can ensure I have my visitors' express agreement to my Terms of Use.

implied agreement: assumed agreement, doesn't require any action
express agreement: explicit agreement, requires an action, such as providing a written or electronic signature or ticking a box before the user can access the service

Is a clickwrap my best option? If so...

What I'd need from the clickwrap:
1. It would only appear the first time a person visits my site.*
2. It must appear, even if the visitor is using a popup blocker.
3. Visiting any of the legal pages (Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, etc.) would not trigger the clickwrap to appear.
4. Visiting any other page or post would trigger the clickwrap to appear.
5. It would appear regardless of how the visitor got to my site (typed the domain name into the address bar or clicked a link in a search result or on a different website.)
6. Unless the visitor ticks the "I am at least 18 years old" and "I agree to the Terms of Use," boxes (s)he would be unable to read anything on the site except its legal pages.
7. The words: "Terms of Use" in the above statement would be a link to the Terms of Use.
8. The visitor wouldn't be required to enter any personal information, like user name or email address. (I'm not looking for a "lead capture" solution right now.)

* I understand it's possible the visitor may trigger the clickwrap again if (s)he visits from a different IP address.
______________________________________________________

I don't know how to code, so a plugin may be my only option. I used WA's search bar first, hoping to find what I needed. I didn't find it.

I spent some time looking around Wordpress.org*, but none of the results I got when I searched for "clickwrap" seemed like what I need.
* here: https://wordpress.org/plugins/search/click-wrap/
* and here: https://en-ca.wordpress.org/plugins/search/click-w...

Then I spent hours on Google, typing in every related search term I could think of and reading through pages of results. I even looked for copy/paste code I could understand. I found code, but none I could understand and I didn't find a solution. ______________________________________________________

Maybe there's a widget or some other, simpler, way to ensure express agreement to our terms? I hate to add another plugin if there's a reasonably easy alternative.

Whatever the solution is, I'd prefer it to "just work" without me having to set it up or activate it for every new page/post I add to my site. Otherwise, I'm sure to forget to do it sometimes, thereby creating "holes" in my defense and rendering it useless.

If possible, I'd prefer the solution to be free. Saving money is an important consideration, but not having to remember to renew a license is a more important one.

My site is a .com (not a sub-domain) hosted by WA and my site's (current) theme is Iconic One.
______________________________________________________

I'm pretty sure having a clickwrap would skyrocket my bounce rate and cost me a lot of traffic, so why am I considering it?

Just having legal pages on our sites - even if they're linked to on every page - may not be enough to fully protect us.

If a person never reads the Terms of Use, is (s)he, in fact, legally bound by the terms in it?

I don't know about other countries, but in the U.S., courts often say no.
http://www.americanbar.org/publications/landslide/...

Although the risk of any of our sites becoming a target of litigation is small, it's not nonexistent. I'd like to take all the reasonable steps I can to protect myself against that risk, possibly even if it costs me substantial traffic.
______________________________________________________

Small online businesses getting express agreement from their visitors/customers hasn't been stressed much in the past. Almost none of the websites I visit have a clickwrap or anything else forcing me to agree to the Terms of Use before I can browse the site. The majority of them still rely on implied agreement to protect them.

I think the days of lax enforcement are coming to an end. This is my prediction: as consumer protection laws and privacy laws across the world become more stringent, there will be increased accountability. If that happens, I think everyone with a globally-accessible website - including bloggers and small businesses - will be held accountable for being in compliance with all the laws.

If that day comes, we'd better be sure we can prove we're in compliance with them.
_____________________________________________________

I realize there may not yet be a realistic solution. Anything currently available may be much too costly in terms of the traffic it would lose us.

For those of you who get express agreement from visitors to your sites, how do you do it? What method do you use? What method(s) do you recommend for people, such as myself, who don't know how to write code?

_____________________________________________________

Recommendation: If any of you are unfamiliar with the EU (European Union)'s GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation,) you should familiarize yourself with it and make sure you're in compliance with it by its May, 2018 implementation.
http://www.eugdpr.org/

DISCLAIMER: I am not a lawyer and nothing in this post is to be construed as legal advice.
_____________________________________________________

I'd love to hear any thoughts, opinions, predictions, or counter-points anyone has. _____________________________________________________

If anyone provides a solution, I'll edit this post and paste it here so it will be easy for others to find.


Posted: Sunday, April 9, 2017

Edit Monday, April 10, 2017: changed some of the wording, moved stuff around, added the "Short Version," and, hopefully, made this post a bit easier to read and understand

Edit Thursday, May 4, 2017: SOLVED!

I didn't find the exact solution I was looking for, but I found one that works just fine! It's a plugin.

Notification Bar (by 8Degree Themes): https://wordpress.org/plugins/8-degree-notificatio...
Price: free
Notification Bar Pro: https://8degreethemes.com/wordpress-plugins/8-degr...
Price: $17

If anyone needs help finding, activating or setting it up, I've written a walk-thru:

https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/training/complianc...


Sharon

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Recent Comments

2

For an EU solution, there is EU Cookie Info - you might be able to leverage that plug-in for what you are attempting.

Hi, Mel!

I'm delighted such an experienced and internet savvy person such as yourself took time to respond. Thank you!

I didn't find a plugin named "EU Cookie Info," but I did find one named "EU Cookie Law."

From its description, it seems like it would be a good tool for being compliant with current laws EU member states enacted because of "Directive 2009/136/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council" (a.k.a. "Cookie Directive") from May, 2011.

What I'm hoping for though, is a solution to meet the additional and stricter notification requirements that come into law when GDPR takes effect in May, 2018.

What do (or will) you, yourself, have in place?

I think a clickwrap may be the best - and possibly the only - solution. What do you think?


Sharon

I'm going to assume that the EU Cookie Law folks will release a new, improved plug-in. I'd follow Marion Black, if you haven't already done so, she's usually 'up' on all the EU stuff. I take my cues from her.

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