[mathias]

-Not sure how necessary they are, or if they even are.

-I guess what I need to know, if anyone would be so kind, is why they exist, and then who's job is it to compose them, client or designer? Are there any templates anywhere one can just grab for free? Maybe customizing it to the respective company.

-Always wondered about them; never got a single bit of use out of any one of them, either.

[pgo]

Originally Posted by mathias

-Not sure how necessary they are, or if they even are.

I'm going to get all zen and shit. They're only necessary if they are necessary.

Originally Posted by mathias

-I guess what I need to know, if anyone would be so kind, is why they exist, and then who's job is it to compose them, client or designer? Are there any templates anywhere one can just grab for free? Maybe customizing it to the respective company.

I've done that before, but don't tell! Probably best for the client (or, better yet, the client's lawyer).

Privacy statements are nice to have if you're collecting and storing personal information. ToS are useful if you're providing a service and want to escape any legal responsibility for how people use your service - i.e. YouTube is dead easy to post copyrighted material to, so YouTube I'm sure says, "You cannot post copyrighted material. It will be removed, blah, blah." Hosting companies will say, "No hosting illegal files, no running game servers on shared accounts (durr)."

In other words, they're only necessary if they're necessary.

[mathias]

So, a company that cleans yer rugs and cleans your business, janitorial stuff, and only has a site holding information about them: what they do, why they do, where they do it, etc, doesn't need to bother. There's no service the web users are able to utilize, it's just strictly information. No account login, none of that either. Oh wait a minute, there will be a contact form where they'll enter their name/email.

[roto]

Originally Posted by pgo

i.e. YouTube is dead easy to post copyrighted material to, so YouTube I'm sure says, "You cannot post copyrighted material. It will be removed, blah, blah."

They do such a good job with removal. Oh wait, they're gozillionaires now, so it doesn't really matter. It's up to Google...

Originally Posted by mathias

Oh wait a minute, there will be a contact form where they'll enter their name/email.

For that, IMO, just have a brief blurb near the submit/send button denoting that their informaton will not be shared...ever. That's what people want to see when submitting a simple form, but just make sure the client honors any posted policy. I've heard rumors of crafty clients using the e-mail addresses for e-newletters anyway -- a sure way to get spam complaints if an option isn't included for them such as "Yes, send me occasional e-mails", etc. etc.

[mathias]

Originally Posted by ®oto

They do such a good job with removal. Oh wait, they're gozillionaires now, so it doesn't really matter. It's up to Google...

I thought that little video they submitted to their own site was kinda gay, they could've at least rehearsed some sort of a formal speech. But no, they were probably just walking along the road, someone had a camera, and one of 'em said, "Hey, let's film us a video, y'all. Tell 'em what's up. Yeehaw." I dunno; found it kinda irritating. No Jackass antics or anything in it.

Originally Posted by ®oto

For that, IMO, just have a brief blurb near the submit/send button denoting that their informaton will not be shared...ever. That's what people want to see when submitting a simple form, but just make sure the client honors any posted policy. I've heard rumors of crafty clients using the e-mail addresses for e-newletters anyway -- a sure way to get spam complaints if an option isn't included for them such as "Yes, send me occasional e-mails", etc. etc.

Sounds like the right thing to do. Thanks for the suggestion, I wasn't thinking small scale. That's all the site'll need.

[freelancr]

Originally Posted by mathias

I thought that little video they submitted to their own site was kinda gay, they could've at least rehearsed some sort of a formal speech. But no, they were probably just walking along the road, someone had a camera, and one of 'em said, "Hey, let's film us a video, y'all. Tell 'em what's up. Yeehaw." I dunno; found it kinda irritating. No Jackass antics or anything in it.

If I had invented YouTube, I'd have filmed it in the playboy mansion that I had just bought. Finish it off by jumping into a swimming pool full of $100 bills, with my hoes, aaaaaaaah!

the alarm clock always seems to go off about now