A terms of use is an agreement that a user must agree to and abide
by in order to use a website or service. Terms of use (TOU) can go
by many other names, including terms of service (TOS) and terms
and conditions. Terms of use are often seen on e-commerce websites
and social media websites, but it is not limited to those types of
websites and should be used with any website that stores personal
information of any kind. A terms of use that is legitimate is a
legally binding agreement and is also subject to change, which
should be noted in the disclaimer. Websites should always have a
terms of use regarding user activity, accounts, products, and
technology.
Browsewrap Agreements
A browsewrap agreement is one that has the terms of the agreement
on the website itself and are connected to the main page of the
product by a hyperlink. The hyperlink leads to another webpage
that will have the terms and conditions of the agreement detailed.
With this type of setup, the terms do not pop up and do not
require an action be taken by the user in order to continue. That
means that the user is not actively agreeing to the terms linked
to the page. This causes an issue because the user of the webpage
must actively click on the hyperlink in order to even access the
terms of use and become aware of them. This is a different way of
ensuring the user agrees to the terms and it can lead to potential
issues because the website is not requiring the user to take any
action
Clickwrap Agreements
A clickwrap agreement is different because it is designed to
ensure that the user has a chance to see the terms of use and they
must also actively agree to the terms in order to agree. This
tends to be set up through a series of pop-ups on the website.
With this type of agreement, the terms are actively placed in
front of the user so they have to review and agree to them, which
means that your website is better protected as a result. This also
means that since the terms must be agreed to prior to any action
being taken by the user, they can hold up better legally if they
are ever needed. Of the two, clickwrap agreements are more secure
and more enforceable