Startup Essential! Platform Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, Organize These.

Article posted in 2024-12-26 10:18:21 | VEAT

Law firm Veat, at the request of a company operating a university student career platform (hereinafter referred to as the “client”), reviewed and improved the terms of service and personal information processing policy for that service and provided them.

This case is a crucial undertaking focused on establishing a solid legal foundation for platform business operations, and it is a representative example of paving the way for stable platform operations and securing user trust.

 

Matters to Consider When Drafting Platform Terms of Service and Personal Information Processing Policies

 

  1. Platform Terms of Service

a. Related Regulations

Act on Regulation of Terms of Trade

Article 4 (Obligation to Draft and Explain Terms, etc.) ① A business operator shall draft terms in Korean so that customers can easily understand them, use standardized and systematic terminology, and clearly indicate important terms of the terms of trade using symbols, colors, bold and large fonts so as to make the terms easy to understand.

Article 6 (General Principle) ① Terms of trade that violate the principle of good faith and lose fairness are invalid.

② The following provisions are presumed to have lost fairness:

1. Provisions that are unfairly disadvantageous to customers
2. Provisions that customers cannot reasonably anticipate based on all relevant circumstances, including the type of transaction
3. Provisions that restrict essential rights accompanying the contract to such an extent that the purpose of the contract cannot be achieved

 

b. It is necessary to draft them so as not to lose fairness.

According to the "Act on Regulation of Terms of Trade" (hereinafter referred to as the "Terms of Trade Act"), provisions that are unfairly disadvantageous to customers, provisions that customers cannot reasonably anticipate based on all relevant circumstances, and provisions that restrict essential rights accompanying the contract to such an extent that the purpose of the contract cannot be achieved are presumed to have lost fairness and may be deemed invalid.

Therefore, Law firm Veat informed the client of the existing terms of service provisions that could be recognized as unfair under the Terms of Trade Act and revised them to be non-invalid under the Terms of Trade Act.

c. It is necessary to draft them so that customers can easily understand the contents.

Furthermore, according to the Terms of Trade Act, a business operator must draft terms in Korean so that customers can easily understand them.

In particular, in the case of platform services, the services are often new, and users may not accurately understand the service provision process. Therefore, after confirming the contents of the service, it is necessary to incorporate them into the terms of service, define definition clauses specifically and in an easy-to-understand manner so that service users can easily understand the contents of the terms of service.

d. It is necessary to have a disclaimer.

Also, since the terms of service are written considering not only specific counterparties but also a large number of counterparties, it is necessary to have a disclaimer to prepare for unexpected situations.

Based on the wealth of experience accumulated through numerous years of providing advice on the review and drafting of terms of service, Law firm Veat reviewed the client's terms of service and revised them to be consistent with the platform service provided by the client.

    2. Personal Information Processing Policy

a. Related Regulations

Personal Information Protection Act

Article 30 (Establishment and Disclosure of Personal Information Processing Policy) ① A personal information processor shall establish and disclose a personal information processing policy (hereinafter referred to as the "personal information processing policy") including the following matters. In this case, public organizations shall register personal information files subject to registration under Article 32 with the personal information processing policy.

1. Purpose of processing personal information
2. Processing and retention period of personal information
3. Matters regarding transfer of personal information to third parties (only when applicable)
3-2. Procedures and methods for disposal of personal information (including the basis for retention and items of personal information to be retained when personal information must be retained pursuant to the proviso of Article 21(1))
3-3. Possibility of disclosure of sensitive information pursuant to Article 23(3) and method of selecting non-disclosure (only when applicable)
4. Matters regarding entrustment of personal information processing (only when applicable)
4-2. Matters regarding processing of pseudonymized information pursuant to Article 28-2 and Article 28-3 (only when applicable)
5. Rights and obligations and methods of exercising them of information subjects and legal representatives
6. Name of personal information protection officer pursuant to Article 31 or name of department handling personal information protection duties and related grievance matters and contact information such as telephone number
7. Matters regarding installation and operation of devices automatically collecting personal information such as Internet connection information files and methods for refusal thereof (only when applicable)
8. Other matters stipulated by presidential decree regarding processing of personal information

 

b. Reflection of Mandatory Items to be Included in the Personal Information Processing Policy

In the case of platform services, a business operator often acts as an intermediary between service users and service providers, so there is a high probability of collecting personal information of service users.

When operating personal information files for business purposes, such as this, the business operator may be considered a personal information processor regulated by the Personal Information Protection Act, and if they are a personal information processor, they must establish a personal information processing policy.

Based on a deep understanding of the Personal Information Protection Act and numerous years of experience in similar cases, Law firm Veat revised the client's personal information processing policy reflecting the mandatory items required by the Personal Information Protection Act.

 

Law firm Veat with Expertise in Terms of Service and Personal Information

 

Thanks to the advice of Law firm Veat, the client was able to establish clear and transparent terms of service that build trust with platform users. In addition, the personal information processing policy was revised in a manner consistent with the Personal Information Protection Act, securing both personal information protection for service users and legal stability.

In this way, Law firm Veat is establishing itself as a reliable partner supporting the business success and legal safety of startups and platform businesses through its expertise in legal advice required for them.

 

Need Legal Advice?

 

Law firm Veat not only provides advice on review of terms of service and personal information processing policies but also provides professional advice on various IT and startup related legal issues. If you would like more information or want legal advice related to your company's management, please feel free to contact Law firm Veat.

Thank you.

Law firm Veat