What should be in a terms and conditions agreement?
Every T&C is different, but the following sections appear in most well-drafted agreements. Use this as a checklist when reviewing or drafting your own.
Introduction: The opening clause confirms that by using the service, the user agrees to the terms. It should also state the legal entity entering into the agreement (your company name and jurisdiction) and when the agreement was last updated.
Updates and modifications: Explains your right to change the terms, how users will be notified of changes, and whether continued use constitutes acceptance of updated terms. This section protects you from users claiming they weren’t informed of changes.
Website and content ownership: Asserts your intellectual property rights over the product, code, branding, and content you’ve created. It should also clarify what users can and cannot reproduce or distribute.
Prohibited activities: A clear list of what users are not permitted to do: scraping, reverse engineering, abusing the platform, or violating others’ rights through your service. This section is particularly important for platforms with user-generated content.
Rights to access: Covers the conditions under which you can suspend or terminate a user’s access. Be specific: vague language here creates enforcement problems.
Limitations of liability: Limit the financial exposure you accept if something goes wrong with your service. This section typically specifies the maximum damages a user can claim and excludes certain categories of loss.
Privacy policy: Your T&C should not try to contain your full privacy policy, but it should reference it explicitly and link to it. Note that if your business operates under GDPR or CCPA, the privacy policy itself must work alongside a cookie consent mechanism as a separate compliance requirement from the T&C. For more on how those pieces fit together, see our guide to consent management platforms.
Governing law: Specifies which jurisdiction’s laws govern the agreement and where disputes will be heard. For US-based businesses, this is typically the state where you’re incorporated. For global businesses, this section requires more careful drafting.
Contact information: Provides a route for users to ask questions or raise concerns about the agreement. Required by some privacy regulations.
User responsibilities: Outlines what users agree to be responsible for — maintaining account security, providing accurate information, and complying with applicable laws when using the service.
