Why do you need an audit of site content

Site content audit is necessary for all companies that do business on the Internet.

Entrepreneurs who conduct business on the Internet need to be aware of the risks associated with the operation of the site. The presence of content that violates legal requirements may be the basis for a fine or blocking the site. An audit of the site, conducted by competent lawyers, will eliminate all violations of current legislation and avoid litigation and claims from third parties.

What violations and risks will an audit of the site’s content help to identify?

1. Infringement of Intellectual Property Rights.

Illegal use of a trademark in the design of a site, in a domain name, for the individualization of goods, works or services.

In accordance with Art. 1484 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the trademark owner has the exclusive right to use the trademark for the individualization of goods introduced into civil circulation, incl. on the Internet: in text and other materials posted on websites, in advertisements, as well as in domain names and other methods of addressing.

The copyright holder may, at his discretion, allow or prohibit other persons to use the trademark. The absence of a prohibition does not count as consent (permission). Other persons cannot use the trademark without the consent of the copyright holder.

An exception to this rule is the use of a trademark in relation to goods introduced into civil circulation directly by the copyright holder or with his consent.

Photos, texts, pictures, audio and video materials are protected by copyright. The author of the work or other copyright holder has the exclusive right to use the work in any form and in any way that does not contradict the law. The use of images, texts, videos and other copyrighted works is prohibited without the permission of the author or other copyright holder.

The author or other rightholder has the right to demand, at his choice, from the infringer payment of compensation in the amount of ten thousand rubles to five million rubles.

2. Violations of the requirements of the Federal Law “On Personal Data”.

Lack of consent to the collection and processing of personal data.

Almost any information that users leave when registering or filling out a feedback form can be attributed to personal data. In addition, Roskomnadzor refers to personal data as cookie, IP-address, data on geo-location, site visit time and other data on user behavior.

It is forbidden to collect personal data without the consent of the person to whom it belongs. The use of personal data without the consent of the person shall entail the imposition of a fine on the violator in the amount of: 6-10 thousand rubles. for citizens, 20 – 40 thousand rubles. for entrepreneurs and officials, 30 – 150 thousand rubles. for companies.

Lack of a personal data processing policy.

An individual or legal entity that processes personal data is obliged to publish a document defining its policy regarding the processing of personal data, to information about the requirements for the protection of personal data being implemented. Failure to comply with this obligation entails the imposition of an administrative fine on citizens in the amount of 1,500 – 3,000 thousand rubles. for citizens, 6 – 12 thousand rubles. for officials, 10 – 20 thousand rubles. for individual entrepreneurs – from ten thousand to twenty thousand rubles; 30 – 60 thousand rubles. on the company.

3. Violations of the requirements of the Federal Law “On the use of cash registers in the implementation of settlements in the Russian Federation.”

All organizations accepting non-cash payments are required to install a cash register with a fiscal drive and an Internet connection. This rule also applies to online stores, which are also required to use online cash registers when carrying out business.

If an online store does not accept money directly from customers, but does so, for example, through an external delivery service, you can avoid using an online checkout.

Failure to use online cash registers entails the imposition of an administrative fine on legal entities in the amount of three-fourths to one size of the amount of the calculation carried out without the use of cash registers, but not less than 30 thousand rubles.

4. Violations of the requirements of the Federal Law “On Protection of Consumer Rights”.

This law establishes the obligation of online stores to provide the consumer with information about the main consumer properties of the goods, about the seller’s address, about the place of manufacture of the goods, about the full brand name of the seller (manufacturer), about the price and conditions of purchase of the goods, about its delivery, service life, period. shelf life and warranty period, on the procedure for paying for the goods, as well as on the period during which the proposal to conclude a contract is valid.

The absence of this information on the site is a violation of consumer rights and entails the imposition of an administrative fine in the amount of five thousand to ten thousand rubles.

5. Risks associated with the status of an information intermediary.

Sites that allow users to independently post content are information intermediaries. As an information intermediary, the site administrator is released from liability for infringement of intellectual property rights only if:

1) He did not know about the misuse of intellectual property;

2) After receiving a written statement from the copyright holder on the infringement of intellectual property rights, he took the necessary and sufficient measures to stop the infringement.

In order for the site administrator to avoid responsibility for the content published by the users of the site, which is an information intermediary, it is necessary to publish on the site a user agreement that defines the rules for using the site, the procedure for handling claims, a ban on posting information that violates the rights of third parties.

In this article, we have listed only the main violations that site owners commit. If you are not sure that your site complies with all legal requirements, it is better to conduct a content audit in advance and identify errors that can significantly affect your business.

The publication was prepared with the support of lawyers Digital rights center…