The 30-Second Version
| Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | |
|---|---|---|
| Who it protects | Your users | You (the business) |
| What it covers | What data you collect, why, and what you do with it | Rules for using your service, liability limits, payment terms |
| Required by law? | ✅ Yes — GDPR, CCPA, CalOPPA, and others require it if you collect any personal data | ❌ No — not legally required, but strongly recommended for any business with users |
| Who needs one? | Every website that collects any data (even analytics or contact forms) | SaaS products, e-commerce stores, marketplaces, apps with user accounts |
| Generate free | Privacy Policy Generator → | Terms Generator → |
What a Privacy Policy Must Include (Legally)
Under GDPR, your privacy policy must disclose:
- What personal data you collect (names, emails, IPs, cookies, payment info)
- Why you collect it (account creation, analytics, marketing, legal obligation)
- Your legal basis for processing (consent, contract, legitimate interest, legal requirement)
- Who you share it with (third-party services, payment processors, analytics)
- How long you keep it
- User rights (access, delete, correct, port, object)
- Contact info for your Data Protection Officer (or equivalent)
- Whether you transfer data internationally and under what safeguards (SCCs)
Under CCPA/CPRA, California residents get additional rights: opt-out of sale/sharing, limit use of sensitive data, and non-discrimination for exercising rights.
What Terms of Service Should Cover
Terms of Service (also called Terms and Conditions or Terms of Use) aren't legally required, but without them you have no protection against:
- A user who abuses your free API and crashes your server — no ToS means no basis to terminate their account
- Someone who uploads illegal content to your platform — your ToS establishes your right to remove it
- A customer who chargebacks every payment — your ToS defines your refund and dispute policy
- A competitor who scrapes your entire database — your ToS prohibits unauthorized data collection
Key sections: acceptance of terms, user obligations and prohibited conduct, intellectual property rights, payment and refund terms, limitation of liability, termination, governing law, and dispute resolution.
Do You Need Both?
If you run: a blog with Google Analytics → Privacy Policy only. An e-commerce store → both (Privacy Policy for customer data, ToS for purchase terms). A SaaS product → both (Privacy Policy for user data, ToS for usage rules). A simple landing page with no tracking, no forms, no comments → technically neither is legally required, but a privacy policy is good practice.
Generate yours in 2 minutes:
Privacy Policy Generator →
Terms Generator →