Let’s understand privacy policies and terms of service before launching an app
Privacy Policy
A privacy policy is a legal document that expresses how the user’s data is retrieved and managed(specifically for data-centric apps). The privacy policy became crucial in mobile apps since there arrived a need for retrieving some personal data like name, email, contact etc. The required contents of a privacy policy depend upon the law applicable to your app and may even need to address requirements across geographical boundaries and legal jurisdictions. There haven’t been any specific policies for simple apps but for apps that require personal information; there is a set of procedures to follow.
The Privacy Policy will need to inform your users about:
- The form of personal information you collect
- How you gather the user’s personal information
- How users can request more details on the information that is collected
- What you intend to use personal information for
- Any third parties that you allow to collect personal information via your website/app
However, there will be a difference of requirements in the privacy policy when we talk about Android and ios separately.
Terms of service
The mobile apps need terms of service if you want to kibosh abusive users, terminate access at your sole discretion, and enforce rules and guidelines that you set. The terms and conditions assign clauses that embody the rules, requirements, restrictions and limitations that a user must follow to use your mobile app.
The terms of service equally provide several benefits which involve protection against abuse by users such as copyright infringement, spamming of other users, and common misuse of your app. Even your liability towards users remains limited. Unlike a privacy policy, it’s not necessary to have terms of service under any laws by any app stores. But the benefits that one can get by having them can convince anyone to go for them.
Taking care of the legalization part in every aspect that concerns your business(most importantly, websites, apps) caters the foundation in the long run.
