One of the best and most efficient ways to expand your business in today’s day and age is through e-commerce, via the internet. This often means that many Hong Kong businesses are increasingly seeking to set up their own website to reach customers online, sometimes not only locally within Hong Kong, but also internationally. However, in venturing into an e-commerce platform, it is important that you comply with the relevant laws and are aware of how to legally protect your business. Consequently, there are seven main policies and legal pages that we strongly recommend you, as a Hong Kong business, to incorporate on your website:

Privacy Policy

What is a Privacy Policy?

Essentially, a Privacy Policy is a page on your website that details how you will collect and process the data of your online visitors and customers.

Why do I need a Privacy Policy?

From a legal standpoint, it is important that you don’t contravene the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486). According to section 4, you, as the data user, must comply with the following 6 data protection principles (contained in Schedule 1):

1. Purpose and manner of collection of personal data
2. Accuracy and duration of retention of personal data
3. Use of personal data
4. Security of personal data
5. Information to be generally available about personal data policies and practices
6. Access to personal data

For more information on the above 6 data protection principles and relevant privacy regulations, please see our FAQ on “In Hong Kong, what personal data is subject to privacy regulations? What are the rules for processing personal data?”

As a side note, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) may also apply if you are a Hong Kong business which processes personal data relating to the offering of goods or services to individuals in the EU (regardless of whether payment is taken) or the monitoring of the behaviour of individuals within the EU. The GDPR may still apply even if your business does not have a physical presence in the EU. As an overview, the EU law grants website visitors from the EU enhanced rights to have detailed, up-to-date information on what data is recorded about them, the purpose for doing so, and where their personal data is sent.

For more information on the GDPR, please see our FAQ on “What is the GDPR? When do I need to make my company’s privacy policies compliant with the GDPR”

Besides, from a commercially efficient standpoint, a Privacy Policy is important for building trust with website visitors and potential customers. That way, customers can be confident that your website is safe to use.

How do I make a Privacy Policy? 

You can easily incorporate a Privacy Policy page on your website by following our Privacy Policy template and tailoring it to your needs.

Cookie Policy

What is a Cookie Policy?

In computing, cookies are small pieces of data sent from a website and stored on your computer or another device in text-file form by your web browser during browsing. They are used to remember you and your preferences in addition to the information you previously entered into form fields, such as name, address, password, and credit card number. Moreover, cookies also track your browsing activities and maybe “first-party cookies”, set by the website you visit, or “third-party cookies”, set by a third party that provides content or advertising or analysis services on the website.

Simply put, a Cookie Policy informs the online visitors about the specific cookies active on your website. Strictly speaking, your Cookie Policy could be incorporated as part of your Privacy Policy. However, again, due to its significance, you can also have a stand-alone page on your website dedicated to your Cookie Policy.

Why do I need a Cookie Policy?

Cookies are often inextricably linked to privacy concerns due to their ability to track, store, and share user behaviour / personal data. Therefore, if the cookies active on your website store the personal data of users, a Cookie Policy is required for compliance with the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486) in Hong Kong. Accordingly, website operators must:

• Provide the prescribed notification to individuals and users when cookies are collected, including the kind of personal data stored in the cookies and its purpose
• Clearly state whether it is mandatory for users and individuals to accept the use of cookies to access the website

As with your Privacy Policy, if your business is located in Hong Kong and does not have a physical presence in the EU, but your website attracts users from the EU and collects or processes their personal data, your Cookie Policy may also have to comply with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

As an overview, EU law grants website visitors from the EU with enhanced rights to have detailed, up-to-date information on what data is recorded about them, the purpose for doing so, where their personal data is sent, in addition to the possibility to prevent data breach from happening. Essentially, the GDPR regulates cookies by treating them as personal data.

For more information on the GDPR, please see FAQ on “What is the GDPR? When do I need to make my company’s privacy policies compliant with the GDPR”

How do I make a Cookie Policy?

You can easily incorporate a Cookie Policy page on your website by following our Cookie Policy template and tailoring it to your needs.

Terms and Conditions

What are Terms and Conditions?

A Terms and Conditions page on your website serves as a contract between you and online visitors. These can also be referred to as “Terms of Use” or “Terms of Service”. Terms and Conditions are legally binding and should detail what you expect from your online visitors and what your online visitors should expect from you. A visitor must agree to these before using/accessing your website.

Why do I need Terms and Conditions?

A clearly drafted Terms and Conditions can help limit your legal liability, protect your intellectual property, collect payments on time, etc. If any disputes arise, Terms and Conditions can help to clear up the uncertainty of and minimize the high costs often associated with, litigation.

How do I make Terms and Conditions?

In order to avoid any doubt, your Terms and Conditions (or a hyperlink to your Terms and Conditions) should be visible on every page of your website. For instance, you can display a link to your website’s ‘Terms of Use’ in your website footer.

You can easily incorporate a Terms and Conditions page on your website by following our Terms of Use template and tailoring it to your needs.

Delivery/Shipping Policy

What is a Delivery/Shipping Policy?

A Delivery/Shipping Policy should detail the essential shipping information on product orders placed by customers on your website. For example, it may contain information about delivery times, shipping rates and costs, shipping methods, shipping locations, payment and tracking information, etc. Technically speaking, a Delivery/Shipping Policy could form part of the Terms and Conditions, but it may be best to have a separate page dedicated to your Delivery/Shipping Policy to allow for easy accessibility by customers.

Why do I need a Delivery/Shipping Policy?

Although it is not strictly required by the law of Hong Kong to have a Delivery/Shipping Policy page on your website, it may be helpful to have one so both you and your customers are clear and on the same page regarding delivery and shipping expectations.

How do I make a Delivery/Shipping Policy?

You can easily incorporate a Delivery/Shipping Policy page on your website by following our Delivery/Shipping Policy template and tailoring it to your needs.

Return/Refund Policy

What is a Return/Refund Policy?

A Return/Refund Policy simply details the terms for offering a return/refund to the customer for purchased goods and services from an e-commerce business. This includes information such as the eligibility for return/refund, the grounds for return/refund, and the percentage of payment to be refunded. Strictly speaking, a Return/Refund Policy often forms part of the Terms and Conditions. However, due to its significance, it may be helpful for you to dedicate a completely separate page for it on your website for the sake of clarity between you and the customer.

Why do I need a Return/Refund Policy?

Unlike other jurisdictions, Hong Kong does not have specific legislation regulating online retail businesses. While the Sale of Goods Ordinance (Cap. 26) and Trade Descriptions Ordinance (Cap. 362) still stand as general consumer protection laws in Hong Kong, they do not require online retailers to provide information about refund/return policies nor do they outline any return/refund policies for online shopping.

Nevertheless, similar to Terms and Conditions, having a clearly and transparently laid out Refund Policy on your website can minimize potential legal disputes with customers which may arise from any easily avoidable uncertainty or misunderstandings. Furthermore, it can help to ensure transparency of business operations.

How do I make a Refund Policy?

You can easily incorporate a Return/Refund Policy page on your website by following our Return/Refund Policy template and tailoring it to your needs.

Disclaimers

What are Disclaimers?

A Disclaimers page on your website helps to limit your liabilities. This is especially important if your business purports to provide professional services. Strictly speaking, Disclaimers could form part of your Terms and Conditions but, for the sake of clarity, it may be better for you to have a separate page dedicated to Disclaimers.

Why do I need to have Disclaimers?

In general, a website operator is liable for unlawful content displayed on its website. Thus a Disclaimers page would be good practice to protect your business from liability for inaccurate or out-of-date information on your website which has led to financial or physical harm. Moreover, it can help to ensure transparency of business operations in the long run.

How do I make Disclaimers?

You can easily incorporate a Disclaimers page on your website by following our Disclaimers template and tailoring it to your needs.

Copyright Notice

What is a Copyright Notice?

A Copyright Notice makes aware to online visitors that the content on your website is protected by copyright and is legally owned by you. They don’t have the right to use it without your permission.

Why do I need a Copyright Notice?

In fact, under the Copyright Ordinance (Cap. 528), copyright is an automatic right which arises whenever a piece of work is created, through and on whatever medium, including the internet. Thus, no registration, nor formal declaration on your website, is legally required in order to obtain copyright protection under the law of Hong Kong. Moreover, through the applicability of various international copyright conventions in Hong Kong, i.e. the Berne Convention, Universal Copyright Convention, the Phonograms Convention, the World Trade Organisation – Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, the World Intellectual Property Organization (“WIPO”) Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty, you should also have copyright protection in most other parts of the world.

Nevertheless, it would be helpful to have a clearly stated Copyright Notice on your website to put off online visitors from copying your content and, consequently, steer clear from any avoidable legal issues and complications.

How do I make a Copyright Notice?

At the footer of your website, you may add a short line of text detailing, for example, the following most basic information:

• Copyright symbol (©)
• Year of first publication
• Name of copyright holder, i.e. you or your company name

You may follow this structure as a guideline:

“© [Year of website creation or latest contribution to website] [Name of copyright holder]”

For example, if your company is called “HK Business” and your year of website creation was 2021, your copyright notice would be placed at the footer of your website and may resemble the following:

“© 2021 HK Business”

Key takeaways

• There are seven main policies and legal pages that a Hong Kong business should keep in mind when branching out into e-commerce by setting up their own website.
• These include a Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy, Terms and Conditions, Delivery/Shipping Policy, Return/Refund Policy, Disclaimers, and Copyright Notice.
• We have templates available on Hire.Legal so that you can easily incorporate these legal policies and pages onto your website.

Bibliography:

1. GDPR.eu, ‘Complete guide to GDPR compliance’: https://gdpr.eu/
2. Hong Kong Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Centre, ‘GDPR will come into force in May 2018 Hong Kong Enterprises should get prepared’: https://www.hkcert.org/blog/gdpr-will-come-into-force-in-may-2018-hong-kong-enterprises-should-get-prepared
3. Intellectual Property Department of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, ‘Copyright Protection in the Hong Kong SAR’: https://www.ipd.gov.hk/eng/pub_press/publications/hk.htm
4. Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China, ‘E-consumer protection’: https://www.legco.gov.hk/research-publications/english/essentials-1920ise08-e-consumer-protection.htm
5. Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data, Hong Kong, ‘EU General Data Protection Regulation’: https://www.pcpd.org.hk/english/data_privacy_law/eu/eu.html
6. Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data, Hong Kong, ‘6 Data Protection Principles’: https://www.pcpd.org.hk/english/data_privacy_law/6_data_protection_principles/files/6DPP.pdf