Online Privacy Law Question

[11BMechanic]

I am in California,
However my question could be tied to any state. The issue I have is that I have developed a website that is similar to Angies List but for contractors. The idea is that contractors, or other service professionals, can rate and review clients that they have worked for to help other future contractors or professionals gauge wether or not they want to get into a contract with that person. So my question is, how much information can my website legally obtain and distribute/display (the information will be displayed if someone searches for a client and there is information in the data base) given that the information is given by a third party and not obtained from the actual individual? Also, would I be able to collect identifying information from the users who post reviews, to prevent abuse of the site, and be able to shield them from any legal repercussions in the event someone they reviewed sues?

 

[quincy]

I am in California,
However my question could be tied to any state. The issue I have is that I have developed a website that is similar to Angies List but for contractors. The idea is that contractors, or other service professionals, can rate and review clients that they have worked for to help other future contractors or professionals gauge wether or not they want to get into a contract with that person. So my question is, how much information can my website legally obtain and distribute/display (the information will be displayed if someone searches for a client and there is information in the data base) given that the information is given by a third party and not obtained from the actual individual? Also, would I be able to collect identifying information from the users who post reviews, to prevent abuse of the site, and be able to shield them from any legal repercussions in the event someone they reviewed sues?

First you should know that Angie's List, like Yelp, has been sued over their ratings and reviews. These are not inexpensive legal actions to pursue or to defend against and, even if you as web host might escape liability under the Communications Decency Act's Section 230, you may not escape being named defendant in a suit.

There is no way to shield yourself or those who write reviews on your site from legal repercussions. Whenever you mess with the reputations of people or businesses you risk having legal actions filed against you. It is the nature of these sites that must be considered carefully before starting a website such as the one you are proposing here.

In addition to lawsuits, the competition is so great between gripe sites that it is hard for the creator of the site to make money. The business model does not seem to be working for these businesses.

You can look over the member agreements and privacy policies of sites like Yelp and Angie's List to see what they cover. Even with fine-print legal agreements and policies, however, the suits are still filed and both Yelp and Angie's List have had to settle legal actions at high costs to them.

Reviewers to the sites have also been sued and have not always fared well in court. Although reviewers have agreed in advance to the terms and conditions of the sites which prohibit the posting of certain content, and have agreed to post only accurate and truthful reviews, many reviewers embellish and exaggerate and generalize their single personal experiences to the point where the resulting review can be judged defamatory.

I suggest that if you really are intent on providing a "gripe" platform for contractors or other service professionals, you sit down with a business law attorney in your area to go over all of the pros and cons of an online review and ratings website. There can be a lot of cons - and the pros of these sites are getting to be less and less as time passes and court actions increase.

 

[Silverplum]

I don't know why you don't know this, or why you think a time-honored process has to be changed just to be online.

It's called the bar/the coffeeshop after work. That's where you go to have conversations about work and air your gripes.

 

[11BMechanic]

Thank you for your response

Communications Decency Act's Section 230,

Thank you for pointing out the Communications Decency Act. I was unaware of it and had assumed that there was such a law in existence but did not know where to find it. My next question is, do you by chance know where I can research online privacy laws? I want to know how much information I can collect from someone without breaking those laws. As of now I am only really collecting information that used to be printed in the old white pages but I don't know if thats even too much.

 

[11BMechanic]

Thanks for your help

I don't know why you don't know this, or why you think a time-honored process has to be changed just to be online.

It's called the bar/the coffeeshop after work. That's where you go to have conversations about work and air your gripes.

While this is true that that would be the best traditional way to talk about your day that is not the intent of what I am trying to do. While quincy described it as a "gripe" site, and there is a lot of potential of it becoming that, my intention is to provide a tool for people to see the trustworthiness of an individual before getting into a binding contract with them. A close family member to me builds cabinets and within the last couple of years has ran into multiple clients that extended jobs beyond the estimated finish date, demand additional work off the contract, and then refuse to pay the final bill because it "didn't meet their expectations" yet refuse to let was wrong be fixed. To a contractor, when a three month job turns into a six month job that can amount to a huge financial loss and when the person ends up refusing to pay the final payment that makes it worse. In all of the cases pertaining to this specific contractor, he was not the first person that these clients had done this to. So my intent is to provide a place for contractors to get a quick historical glance into how a potential client treats their hired contractors which can't always be done at a bar/coffee shop.

 

[quincy]

Thank you for pointing out the Communications Decency Act. I was unaware of it and had assumed that there was such a law in existence but did not know where to find it. My next question is, do you by chance know where I can research online privacy laws? I want to know how much information I can collect from someone without breaking those laws. As of now I am only really collecting information that used to be printed in the old white pages but I don't know if thats even too much.

Every state has its own privacy laws which can trip up the unaware online website owner. You would need to check each state to see what is allowed under their laws and what could lead to a privacy invasion lawsuit filed against your website.

Here is a link to the Federal Trade Commission's site which provides information on the federal laws that protect the privacy of consumers: http://www.ftc.gov/news-events/media-resources/protecting-consumer-privacy

There is information that is considered "public" information and that information can (generally) be published without risk. This information includes what you find in a telephone book (names, addresses, phone numbers). However, there ARE exceptions to the legality of even publishing names, addresses and phone numbers. How the information is used is an important factor.

Because there is a LOT to consider when you are placing real people into the public eye without their consent, you really should sit down with a publishing law professional and go over all aspects of your website plans.

There is no way you can prevent a lawsuit. There are only steps you can take to reduce the risk of one. You are taking the best first step by becoming educated about the law.

 

[single317dad]

If I were to enter this market right now, I'd do so with a paid membership site. Your target audience is the demographic with money anyway; why not offer them a product that is far and above the others available, and charge a fee for it? That would also limit your exposure from certain angles, as you wouldn't be publicly shaming anyone (as opposed to Yelp or pi$$edconsumer, who are highly ranked in Google searches and returns some terrible reviews in those searches before you even click over to their site).