Generally under the Communications Decency Act (CDA), as a website owner you aren’t responsible for the posting and publishing of information or content by other people on their website aka user-generated content.

However, under current Federal case law you could become liable for the posting of others by helping to develop their content on your website.  In order to determine whether you have developed content of others on your website, you should ask yourself the following questions:

1. Is my website actively manipulating the type of content being submitted by others?
2. Have I or my company created any content on our website using content submitted by other people?
3. Have I affirmatively assisted other people in developing their content on my website?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions you might have removed yourself from the protection of the CDA safe harbor provisions and may be vulnerable to liability. As always if you have any specific questions regarding any possible liability, you should contact a knowledgeable lawyer.

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In case you have a privacy policy in your campaign, you’re protecting your customers, while gaining their trust at the same time. As it pertains to your customer, nothing is more vital than their trust and security. When they find that your website gave out information, willingly or not, they will likely stop using your services.

Behavioral advertising is something that has been appearing online over the past few years, and it has helped target certain products to many potential clients. This technique is distinct from unsolicited marketing because advertisers take information by observing what the customer does, and then suggests products or services that could benefit that person using the information obtained. Some customers like this because of the simple fact that they are getting personalized suggestions that they are actually interested. However, there are customers that will not like the fact that their web browsing activity is being tracked and that they are constantly being monitored.

Another thing to pay attention to would be that the businesses that collect this data also sell it to marketers to be able to better market their products and services. In a sense, this is the next step in marketing, and there is no site that may not have data pulled from it. Even internet websites like Facebook have started to offer data about their users to marketers. This actually also means that data collected on your website can be used by these businesses to aid other agencies.

If you look at the vast majority of clients, you’ll find that they tend not to like having their information handed out to marketers. The FTC has also been covering this problem since the 1990’s, conducting research and determining what is acceptable. Right now, there’s two alternatives that users can pick from: opt-in and opt-out. A client who chooses to opt-out is one who just isn’t going to want their information given out, and does not want to participate in any data collection. If they choose to opt-in, they are allowing your online business to access to their data, such as google accounts.

However, it is also vital to recognize that a individual whom has chosen to opt-in does not necessarily wish to be bombarded with advertisements and unsolicited emails. In the event you bother them too much with messages or calls and faxes, you are likely to face the realistic probability of losing your customers trust and having them opt-out. Instead, use the information they have given to create specific marketing that’s far better suited for that individual. By showing them that you are thankful for their cooperation and that you have products and services they can benefit from, you will be gaining the consumer’s faith.

Finally, it all boils down to trust and choice. The consumer possesses the choice to opt-in or opt-out, and marketers must honor that decision. Should you follow their requests and provide great service, you will be able to gain the client’s trust and their service. It only takes one time to lose a client’s trust, so make sure that you maintain your sites safe and let visitors know if they are participating in any data collection and that you will honor whatever choice they make.