ToS and Privacy Policy

[JoyFreak]

So, I've come to the idea of updating these two pages from the XenForo default settings and was looking for some advice from other fellow forum owners. Do you find it's important to update these two pages or are they sufficient enough, in their current state, to uphold a discussion message board? Do you take it upon yourself to create the Privacy Policy and ToS or do you get a legal team to create this for you? I'm unsure of what route to take but if I were to do this properly, I would probably have a legal team do it for me. Opinions please?

 

[Mendalla]

I rewrote the ToS a few years back, mostly because we have a separate Code of Conduct and use some different language (our Staff are called Council). I felt that the ToS needed to use our language to make things binding. I think I looked at the Privacy Policy at the same time but didn't do anything memorable. At least not that I remember.

Legally speaking, I am a small board with no real organization behind it, so didn't bother. If I was running a board that made money or was operated by/as a legally registered corporation, then I would definitely have the corporation's counsel (or at least the lawyer who assisted with incorporation) take a look.

 

[ENF]

So, I've come to the idea of updating these two pages from the XenForo default settings and was looking for some advice from other fellow forum owners. Do you find it's important to update these two pages or are they sufficient enough, in their current state, to uphold a discussion message board? Do you take it upon yourself to create the Privacy Policy and ToS or do you get a legal team to create this for you? I'm unsure of what route to take but if I were to do this properly, I would probably have a legal team do it for me. Opinions please?

In short, you should have a ToS, Privacy and necessary supplemental policies that meet the needs of your site. Using the default version or something that isn't tailored for your site could potentially not protect you, your site or the members.

But, if you're a small site with a low risk, then something generic may be fine. Otherwise, I think it's worth the investment to have a specific set of terms created with the appropriate legal language that works for your site. The privacy policy and other rules you want to post, probably don't need to be written by a professional.

At the end, it's about the scope of your site and your risk appetite which drives how solid you want those policy pages to be.

 

[Mendalla]

But, if you're a small site with a low risk, then something generic may be fine.

OTOH, this describes me site to a T and I still put in the effort. If nothing else, it brings the legalese into line with the board's culture.