This post aims to clear confusion surrounding two technology law terms:  Terms of Service (ToS) and End User License Agreement (EULA).  Often, clients use these terms interchangeably even though the terms refer to different business models.  Determining which term applies to your business will assist you when searching for legal counsel and  to understand your own business model.

End User License Agreement

An End User License Agreement addresses the license of copyrighted software to your users.  This agreement is used when users are installing or accessing computer code, such as on their phone/mobile device or computer.  Since users are installing/accessing code, the End User License Agreement provides users a copyright license to the code and, therein, aims to protect your rights to that code.

Example:  a mobile application, downloaded from an app store and installed on a user’s device.

Terms of Service 

A Terms of Service agreement addresses the provision of services to your users.  This agreement  is used when users are provided a service, typically accessed through a website, but users do not install or access code – Software as a Service.  While some label the provision of services as a “license” this is not always ideal as “license” is a term evoking copyright and installing/accessing computer code.  Rather, the user is provided with “access” or a “subscription” to the services (or similar language).

Example:  a SAAS service accessed from a website through a user account.

But… 

There may be instances where you combine these two documents, licensing code and providing a service.  For example, an application (installed code) that connects to your cloud service to retrieve data (the service).  Additionally, you may have a mobile application and web service that accomplish the same thing but exist separately and, in this case, both agreement types are required.

In Sum:

Understanding the differences between End User License Agreements and Terms of Service should assist you with understanding your business model (am I selling software, a service, or both?) and your legal needs.

Frequently, large technology companies face lawsuits in foreign courts over their failure to comply with foreign laws, primarily those concerning privacy, sales and consumer rights.  In Germany, WhatsApp’s Terms of Service violated consumer protection laws; in Canada, Facebook is challenging the application of Canadian privacy law; and in Australia, Valve’s no return policy allegedly violates consumer protection laws.  As your startup grows, users may come from major markets across the world and create a challenge – how to balance growth with legal compliance?

Governing law clauses (X law applies and X courts have jurisdiction) are frequently unable to prevent the application of foreign laws to your company – just ask WhatsApp, Facebook or Valve.  Therein, to comply with the laws of only one market naturally leaves your startup exposed to legal liability for non-compliance in other markets.  While I suggest considering compliance with the law of each market in which you gain traction, I also recognize that cost concerns and a startup’s focus on growth strategies means that compliance is always on the back burner.

When balancing growth with legal compliance, consider:

1.  Size of your company in each market:  the larger your company is in a market, the more likely the laws of that market will be asserted against you.

2.  General size of your company:  the larger (and wealthier) your company is, the more likely the laws of foreign markets will be asserted against you.

3.  Potential liability:  How large is your company’s exposure to liability for non-compliance in each market?  How comfortable is the company with this exposure?

4.  PR:  Does non-compliance create a substantial chance for bad PR in that market?

Small startups (and large technology companies) frequently focus on growth over legal compliance.  Indeed, at the start of your company, potential liability is low as the company is flying under the radar – here, focusing on growth makes sense.  Once you company grows, legal compliance should be weighed and constantly reevaluated as laws, and your company, change.

When your Terms of Service, End User License Agreement and Privacy Policy are first drafted they reflect how your software operates at a particular point in time.  However, as software and your business changes over time, these documents are often left behind and stop reflecting how the software operates.  The effectiveness of these documents is hindered when your software steps beyond their scope.

Not every change to your software requires an amendment to the ToS, EULA or PP.  Where the change is encompassed by the language of the documents, no amendment is required.  Conversely, if the change adds a new, or changes a current, feature, collects additional information or uses information differently and that is not reflected in these legal documents, then an amendment is likely required.

Ideally, your documents should constantly evolve, lockstep with your software’s evolution, and allow you to avoid the effort and cost involved in drafting new, or substantially amended, documents every few years.  Where you believe that a software change is not reflected in your ToS, EULA or PP, I recommend consulting with your legal counsel to determine whether an amendment to these documents is needed.

If you hire a 3rd party app developer, be sure to agree in writing on who is responsible for the app privacy policy.  Too frequently, the privacy policy is left out of the development agreement, leaving the client to figure out the information collection practices of an app they did not develop.

The privacy policy must detail what information is collected, how information is used and who information is disclosed to.  The developer is in the best position to prepare the privacy policy as they know what information the app collects.  While the client may have an idea of what information is collected, mere ideas are too speculative for the exactness required in a privacy policy.

When entering into an agreement with a 3rd party app developer, be sure that privacy policy responsibility is addressed in the agreement.  Two common approaches are:

1.  Assistance:  the developer will provide the client with all information necessary for the client to create a privacy policy and, if necessary, will work with the client’s lawyer to collect this information.  Limits may be set on the amount of time the developer will devote to this.

2.  Create:  the developer will create an original privacy policy for the client.  Never allow a developer to copy another company’s privacy policy as this policy does not reflect your information practices and may constitute copyright infringement.

If the developer does not want to assist with a privacy policy, consider looking elsewhere.  A “finished” app still requires legal documents to protect your company and to comply with the law.  A developer that won’t assist with legal compliance is not providing a complete product.