Legal notice requirement

What the legal notice requirement demands

The legal notice requirement demands that a commercial online offering states, in a clearly visible, directly reachable and permanently available way, who stands behind it. It applies to shops, to corporate pages and to profiles on social networks as soon as business is done there. The purpose is not a formality but traceability: a customer has to know before buying whom they are dealing with, and needs an address in a dispute.

Which details belong in it

Required are the full name of the operator, for companies the legal form and the authorised representative, an address at which service of documents is possible, a fast contact route such as email or telephone and the VAT identification number where one exists. For certain professions details of the chamber and the supervisory authority are added.

Three points are often done wrong. A post office box is not enough, because no service is possible there. A contact form alone is not enough, because it does not allow direct contact. And a register number without naming the register is incomplete, because it says nothing on its own.

Where it has to be reachable

• Two clicks: from the entry point of the offering the notice must be reachable in at most two clicks. In an online shop the footer is the usual place, because it appears on every page.
• Permanently: the link has to be present on every page, not only on the home page.
• Clear naming: the label has to be understandable. Foreign language versions are permitted as long as they are recognisable.
• Not hidden in a banner: a link inside a consent window does not meet the requirement.

Which mistakes get challenged

Four mistakes repeat and are attackable. A missing link in the footer. An incomplete address, for instance without a house number. An outdated detail after a move or a change of company form that is long recorded in the register. And a contact route that does not work, such as a form without confirmation or a telephone line nobody answers.

The last point is the most underestimated. A stated telephone number counts as a promised reachability, and a queue without an answer is not one. Anyone who cannot provide telephone support is better off naming only the email address and the postal address.

Frequent questions

• Do I need one as a small business? Yes, as soon as the offering is commercial.
• Is a notice in the home page footer enough? No, it has to be reachable on every page.
• What does a missing detail cost? A formal challenge with legal fees, regardless of whether any damage occurred.