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Ben Nadel at the jQuery Conference 2010 (Boston, MA) with: Andrew Wirick
Ben Nadel at the jQuery Conference 2010 (Boston, MA) with: Andrew Wirick

Terms Of Service / Privacy Policy Document Generator

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Published in — Comments (107)

A long time ago, someone asked me about creating a Terms of Service and Privacy Policy for a web site. I don't know much of anything about that stuff so I couldn't really help. But then, a less long time ago, someone actually posted a generic Terms of Service / Privacy Policy template on the House of Fusion CF-Talk list. Now, months and months later, I have finally taken that template and wrapped it up in a little form that will generate a terms of service / privacy policy document based on your company name and residing state.

I have put the Privacy Policy / Terms of Service generator into the existing ColdFusion section of my site. I figured that the ColdFusion section was a bit more appropriate than the Utility section since it's business related (while it is technically just a utility feature). It will generate both the visual document as well as provide you with an easy to use Textarea so that you can copy-n-paste the HTML used to generate the document.

Short link: https://bennadel.com/819

Reader Comments

76 Comments

A quick question, where it says state will that work for overseas countries or something such as "USA" (for all of america)?

15,848 Comments

@Shuns,

The State field gets used in the Privacy Policy (State of XXXX). I suppose you could later that to fit your needs. Again, I don't really know that much about this stuff, I was just working off of a generic template that someone posted.

1 Comments

Thx for the template I just put up my hosting site and had to have a TOS and Private Policy. I added things to the terms to fit my needs and looks great.

Thanks
www.grandhostingsolutions.com Support Team

1 Comments

thanks! i needed some generic terms, i know that eventually i should have a lawyer go over my specific situation but in the meanwhile I HAD to put something up to be in compliance. this is excellent.

1 Comments

I'm building a website for my Mom and suddenly found myself in need of these site documents - with no idea where to start.

Thanks for sharing this very nifty resource!

1 Comments

thanks ben, I'm not a big fan of contracts so to find your no no-nesense ToS generator has helped me no end.

all the best

matt

1 Comments

Thanks for the cool little tool. This will help the new guy, I'm going to add a link back to this generator at the bottom of my page.

2 Comments

Hi,

I been searching for TOS and I found your page. The generator is excellent! Thank you for taking the time out to make it.

I just have a quick question. If we use this TOS etc will it be valid protection for us? Does it hold any value?

Or is it meant to provide a little cover fire for a broke developer (me) haha until he/she can scrape up enough money for a lawyer etc

Thanks again for making this!

2 Comments

@Ben Nadel

Hey thank you for replying. Yeah I just wanted more detail on it that's all. I think I get what you are saying though :-)

You are right though... "Sade makes coding feel sexy." haha

One time I was programming and I finally solved part of an application and I cranked up the headphones with her song "Smooth Operator." You should try it... It makes you feel like a King.

King Kong ain't got sh*t on me!!! hahah - Training Day.

Alright man thanks again, and thanks for creating the generator.

- Cypherpunk

1 Comments

Thank you very much!
I was searching for this for long time.Finally i could enter correct query into g00gle search box to arrive at your page...

1 Comments

Thanks for providing this tool Ben. I've been trying to find a good TOS template or an example of one for quite some time. I didn't expect to find a free tool that would create a customized TOS page for me. This is very cool! I appreciate it.

2 Comments

Ya, it did becoming a great too for starter user to have their personal TOS on using the base template..
So yeah, good job dude

1 Comments

Thankyou for this very helpful form. You've made my life much easier today. I'll have a look around your site... I'm sure there's some more good stuff here..Thanks

Dave

1 Comments

Ben thanks for this,truly,I had a site up for a month with no terms,privacy,sitemap.Client flipped a wig so you saved me today!

1 Comments

Hi am just developing my blog/website (first one!). I tried to download the privacy policy page you developed as it was highly recommended by my colleagues. Seems the site is being upgraded? Have you retired this great form or is the site truly being upgraded and will return shortly?

Thanks for your help in advance and Happy Fourth to Ya!

j.scott

2 Comments

Did you know this post is now #1 on Google for "terms of service template"? I bet you never dreamed that would happen.
Not so for codfusion development, application development, etc. but hey, we have to learn to use the traffic we do get.

15,848 Comments

@J, @Prashant, @Texxs,

Yeah, sorry about the "update"; I was changing the architecture of my site and wasn't able to get to everything in a timely manner. I will try to finish the upgrade ASAP.

1 Comments

Hi Ben,

I can't tell you how excited I was that I found your generator for Terms of Use. I noticed that it says it's being updated......is that a long term process or is it something that will have the app back online within a couple of days?

Thank you so much for putting something that useful out there for everyone to use.

Best,
Mario

1 Comments

I'm brand new to building web sites. I'm in the process of building my first sight right now, I haven't launched it yet because I haven't been able to find all the "legal" documents that I need. I'm not quite sure what you have going on here, but from the look of things its going to be just what I've been needing. I hope you get the link up soon-

Thank you :D

15,848 Comments

@Mario, @Taco,

I will try my best to get this up by the end of the day tomorrow. I've been at CFUNITED all week, so have not had access to my site.

15,848 Comments

I have updated the Privacy Policy code to work again. Sorry it was down for a while. I'll be moving it around a bit later; but for now, it is up and running.

1 Comments

Thank you, it's breathtaking fast and easy. I've spent a lot of time thinking it over and over and was't sure where to start and what are legal requirements.

1 Comments

Thanks a ton for this! Saved me and (I'm sure a bunch of other people) a lot of hassle. I can now put off hiring an attorney and spending a few grand for another couple of weeks...

1 Comments

Good job!

Thanks for that, i was looking for something clean and clear like that for more than a week. By the way very nice design of your website.

thanks,
Miter

42 Comments

Thank you so much for this! I am not sure how many times I have gone to other web apps and taken their TOS and changed all of the names. Bookmarking this.

1 Comments

Dear Ben:

This is great! What I relaly like about it (part from its brilliant simplicity) is the fact that it is not 15 pages of legalese but is in terms that anyone could understand.

The one thing I did (that might also make it perfect for other users) was to add an additional section related to geenral rules for blog use. I'd add it here but I'm sure you have many such examples yourself (but let me know if you'd like me to!)

Thank you very much for this!

Fletch

1 Comments

Hi, Ben

Thanks so much for the privacy policy document. This service saved me tons of time. So all the best in your journey for helping out.

1 Comments

Thanks a lot Ben, you absolutely save me a lot of work. Your T.O.S generator is nothing short of incredible. Thanks again man.

1 Comments

Thank you very much!!! The Terms Of Service / Privacy Policy Document Generator is very much appreciated!! Thanks for your help as we set up our new website!!

1 Comments

Perfect! What a time saver... stumbled across your site searching for "terms of service template for website" in Google. 151 MILLION results for me & you came up #3 :)

Nice work & thanks heaps for providing this service!

1 Comments

Thanks this is really useful. A small Q on point 2 - if we provide a web app do you still use the download license?

1 Comments

I read elsewhere that I need one of these so I came here. This was very easy to use and it fit well with my site once pasted in. I added a TOS section specific for my type of site, but that was all that was needed. (Plus while installing the TOS menu option at top, I noted I had the robots "nofollow" on most of my pages, a mistake I corrected.) Thanks!

1 Comments

Thanks fro helping out! this is a really good starting point, only had to add some small things for my specific use.
Thanks!

Oh my chickens, this post is old!
I believe in love. I believe in compassion. I believe in human rights. I believe that we can afford to give more of these gifts to the world around us because it costs us nothing to be decent and kind and understanding. And, I want you to know that when you land on this site, you are accepted for who you are, no matter how you identify, what truths you live, or whatever kind of goofy shit makes you feel alive! Rock on with your bad self!
— Ben Nadel