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The pages that apply to you, not the ones from a template
You decide which legal pages your website needs based on what you sell and how you get paid, and skip the ones that don't apply to you.
By Yodai · Published September 6, 2026 · Updated October 12, 2026
You're about to publish your website and you notice the templates always come with the same four footer links: Legal Notice, Privacy Policy, Cookies, Terms of Purchase. You copy them as they are, hit publish, and move on to other things.
The problem shows up later. A customer asks you to cancel a package, and your website says you'll refund the money within thirty days, even though you never promised that. Or someone complains because your ads keep following them around other websites, and your cookie policy swears you don't track anyone. Those four pages aren't decoration: they're what your website says on your behalf when you're not there.
Not all of them apply to you. It depends on three very specific things: what data you store, how you charge, and how you deliver what you sell.
What decides isn't the template, it's your business
A hair salon that books appointments over WhatsApp and charges with a card reader when the client walks in doesn't have the same obligations as language classes that get paid by card at sign-up and are taught over video call. Both can have a website, both can have the same footer, and both would be missing something or have something extra if they copy the same template.
What makes the difference isn't your industry, it's how you operate: whether your website asks for personal information, whether it charges before the customer sees you in person, whether the service gets delivered without you and the customer being in the same room, and whether any program, yours or someone else's, like an analytics tool or an ad, leaves a trace in the browser of whoever visits you.
- 1Do you store any information from people who contact you?
A contact form, a booking with a phone number, a WhatsApp connected to your website: if a name or number ends up stored somewhere, you need a Privacy Policy. It doesn't matter how small the business is. - 2Is it a business website?
Then you need a Legal Notice, even if you don't charge anything through it. Spain's information society services law (LSSI, article 10) requires that anyone can easily and freely see at least your name or business name, your address, your email, and your tax ID (NIF), plus your Commercial Registry or professional association details if you have them: a contact phone number isn't enough. And if the website shows prices, it has to say whether they include taxes and, if there are any, shipping costs. - 3Do customers buy and pay remotely?
A package, an online class, a product that ships: if an individual buys it from you through the website, by phone, or by message, without meeting face to face, consumer law generally gives them 14 calendar days to change their mind without giving a reason, with exceptions like food or entertainment tied to a set date. That's where clear cancellation terms spelling this out come in. - 4Do you use cookies beyond the technical kind?
Google Analytics, an ad pixel, or your own analytics: if anything stores data in a visitor's browser to measure traffic or advertise to them, the LSSI (article 22.2) requires you to inform them and get their consent beforehand, whether it's yours or a third party's. If you only use technical cookies, like language or session settings, you don't need a banner.
Two businesses, two different lists
- Stores the phone number of whoever books: needs a privacy policy
- Charges with a card reader in the store, not on the website: still needs a legal notice, with its tax ID and address
- The client sees you before paying: no cancellation terms needed
- Doesn't use analytics or ads that store data in the browser: no cookie notice needed
- Asks for name and email at sign-up: privacy policy required
- Charges by card on the website: legal notice with tax ID and address, like any business website
- Signs up and pays through the website, remotely: cancellation terms with the 14-day right to change their mind
- Tracks visits with Google Analytics: cookie notice and consent before tracking
Which one do I need: If you charge and deliver in person, a legal notice and privacy policy almost always cover you. As soon as an individual buys from you and pays remotely, add cancellation terms with their right to change their mind. And as soon as something stores data in the browser to measure traffic or advertise to them, add the cookie notice with their consent.
The costly mistake
With the four questions answered, you already know which pages apply to you and which ones you can leave out without a second thought. What comes next is writing each of the ones you do need, starting with the one that says who you are when someone files a complaint.
Now you know which pages apply to you. Time to write the first one: who you really are when someone files a complaint, your legal notice.
- You know which of the four legal pages apply to your business, not to the template
- You have the reason behind each one: the data you store, how you charge, how you deliver, and what cookies you use
- You know what to check before publishing a copied template: that it doesn't say anything that isn't true for your case