Posted: Wed, May 4, 2017
A site's legal pages (Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, etc.) aren't there just to inform visitors. They're also intended to protect website owners and limit their liability. They're contracts between the site's owner(s) and its visitors.
The problem is, they don't give website owners any protection at all when courts refuse to honor them. More and more, US courts are ruling that, for a website's terms to be enforceable, the visitors must have been given "reasonable notice" of their existence.
There have been lawsuits against website owners - over one or more terms clearly laid out in their legal pages - which the owners lost because the courts decided having the legal pages and providing links to them on every page of the website wasn't sufficient to give visitors "reasonable" notice.
There are also strict cookie laws in various part of the world. If you aren't familiar with the term "express agreement" and how it applies to the use of cookies, you may want to look into it. Website owners who don't abide by the cookie laws can be heavily fined.
I'm not saying any of us would ever be sued or fined. The odds are probably very small.
If, however, you'd feel more secure with a little extra protection, I've found a reasonable way to get it.
Notification Bar (by 8Degree Themes): https://wordpress.org/plugins/8-degree-notification-bar/
Price: free
Notification Bar Pro: https://8degreethemes.com/wordpress-plugins/8-degree-notification-bar-pro/
Price: $17
The Pro version offers many more options, but the free version is quite good too. Once you enable it, the bar will appear on every page of your website. (So, no matter which page a first-time visitor arrives at, (s)he'll see it.)
I almost forgot to mention an important fact that may be a deal breaker for some of you: this bar covers whatever's on the page in the area you place the bar.
I tested the free version on...
desktop > Windows 10 > Firefox, Chrome & (Microsoft) Edge
Moto E (android phone) > Firefox & Chrome
iPhone 7S > Safari
iPad Air 2 > Safari
It worked perfectly on each device and browser.
On the next page, I'll show you how to find and install this plugin.
Reply
Thu, May 4, 2017
You're very welcome. Thank you, Gautam,.for your comment.
Thu, May 4, 2017
Hi, Michael.
You're very welcome. Thank you for your like and your comment!
Do you do anything special on your sites, to comply with these laws?
I know some people intentionally don't because they feel the laws are not well thought out, are poorly written and are all but unenforceable.
Every time I think of this (linked) post, I crack up. Warning: adult language.
http://nocookielaw.com/
Oh, hey - I was just at your training: Readability Scoring. taking your content to professional level I gave it a "like" and a comment!
Sharon
Thanks for the training comment. It's the only training I've done. I plan to do more in future!
I'd say you're probably not far off with that percentage estimate - and that's excluding all the people who don't even know about the laws.
I'm sure I've worried way too much over this issue. I know research for it took away a lot of time from working on my site.
I've got it sorted to my satisfaction now, though. So, other than doing a check for changes/new laws a few times a year, I'm done with it!
I was surprised you only had that one training. I'll look forward to reading more of them when you can find some time to write them.
