What documents does the marketplace need?
When creating a marketplace, participants should think about how this model will be legally framed. Marketplace documents are one such framework. By securing the rights and obligations of the parties, they reduce risks in the future. However, you cannot take standard documents, since they may not suit your model at all and worsen the position of the intermediary in front of buyers and suppliers. You can read about what documents to draw up a marketplace in our article.
Contents:
- User agreement for the marketplace
- Privacy Policy for the Marketplace. Consent to the processing of personal data
User agreement
The first document that the marketplace should pay attention to is the Terms of Use. Marketplace is an application or site that a potential buyer uses to buy or sell goods, works or services. Even without becoming a buyer, he is obliged to follow certain rules. These rights and obligations, including, are spelled out in the user agreement. Therefore, it should prescribe both the conditions not related to the purchase of goods / services, and the conditions directly regulating these issues.
The user agreement can include:
- User rights:
- Ability to search for a product, service or seller
- Rate sellers;
- Leave feedback and ask questions, including using photos;
- The procedure for registering on the website / in the application, as well as a list of actions available to an unregistered user;
- The procedure for using the content that the user leaves on the site;
- How to use the chat function;
- The procedure for receiving the newsletter by the user, in particular, consent to receive advertising, which is mandatory in accordance with the Law "On Advertising".
Terms of use for marketplace content
Sometimes competitors resort to using automatic data collection by robots (parsing). Such activity may be considered illegal. In such disputes, courts often resort to user agreement analysis. If it prohibits the use of information, including photos, without the consent of the aggregator, then the parsing violates your rights. Despite the fact that the robots do not pay attention to the agreement, it will only matter in the event of a dispute. In practice, there are already cases of parsing by marketplaces. One of the most famous cases is Avito versus Cyan. The last aggregator copied ads from the Avito website. The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) sided with Avito in this dispute. However, in another case, Auto.ru borrowed ads from Avito, including photographs with Avito's emblem. In this case, the FAS sided with Auto.ru. While there is no established practice of government agencies, one measure to protect their content may be a special provision to prohibit use without consent. It is this condition that should be included in the user agreement.
Consent to the Marketplace User Agreement
Having drawn up a user agreement, you need to determine how the user will express his consent to the terms of the agreement.
First, consent must be active, i.e., the user cannot express it by inaction. In this regard, it is better not to insert a check mark in advance for the user. Secondly, the field for expressing consent must be at the end of the text of the user agreement. Thirdly, the text of the user agreement must always be available to the user. As a rule, a link to it is located at the end of the page. Fourth, the marketplace should designate that it is an intermediary if that fits your model.
Privacy Policy. Consent to the processing of personal data
Personal data - any information that allows you to identify a person. Marketplace receives personal data in one way or another, at least in the case of a user registering on a website or in an application. The processing of personal data requires obtaining the user's consent. It must be actively expressed, and the consent itself must contain the purposes of processing personal data. If your marketplace is designed for the European market, then you need to draw up a privacy policy in accordance with the European Union act - GDPR.
Thus, marketplace documents must be tailored to specific parameters. They should take into account the requirements of the jurisdictions that your marketplace is directed to. In addition, the user agreement should be developed in a comprehensive manner, taking into account the norms of various laws. User agreement and privacy policy are key. After drawing up, you need to think over how users express their consent to the terms. If you have any questions or you need help with drafting documents, please contact A4 Law Firm lawyers.
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