What Belongs in Your Terms & Conditions vs Your Privacy Policy vs Your Cookie Policy?

Most online businesses end up with the same trio of legal pages:

• Terms & Conditions
• Privacy Policy
• Cookie Policy (or cookie notice)

They often arrive via templates, advisors or platform defaults. Over time, they get edited, copied and pasted, and no one is entirely sure:

"What's supposed to go where – and are we repeating or contradicting ourselves?"

This article explains, in plain language:

• what each of these documents is for
• the kinds of topics that typically belong in each
• how they fit together from a user's perspective
• why clarity and consistency matter more than legal jargon
• how a system like SolidWraps can help you manage them as your business grows

None of this is legal advice. Think of it as a practical map you can use to talk more clearly with your own advisers.

The big picture: three documents, different jobs

At a high level:

• Terms & Conditions (T&Cs) define the contractual relationship between you and your users or customers.
• The Privacy Policy explains how you handle personal data – what you collect, why, and what rights people have.
• The Cookie Policy (or cookie notice) zooms in on cookies and similar technologies you use on your website or app.

You can combine some of these in a single document, but it helps to understand the roles separately first.

1. Terms & Conditions: the rules of the relationship

Your Terms & Conditions (also called Terms of Use, Terms of Service, Website Terms, etc.) describe the deal between your business and the user.

Think of them as: "If you use our website/product, these are the rules, expectations, limitations and processes that apply."

Typical topics in Terms & Conditions

The right structure depends on your business, but common sections include:

• Who you are

  • Your legal entity name and contact details.

• Scope of the terms

  • What services or products the terms cover.
  • Who is allowed to use them (age, geography, business vs personal use).

• Account and access rules

  • How accounts are created, managed, suspended or closed.
  • Responsibilities for keeping login details secure.

• Acceptable use and prohibited activities

  • What users can't do with your site or service (e.g. abuse, fraud, IP infringement, security testing).

• Intellectual property

  • Who owns content, software, trademarks and branding.
  • How users are allowed (or not allowed) to use them.

• User content (if applicable)

  • When users upload content, who owns it.
  • What licences you have to store, display or use it.

• Pricing, payment and renewals (for paid services)

  • How fees are calculated.
  • Billing cycles, auto-renewal, cancellations and refunds.

• Disclaimers and limitations of liability

  • What you do and do not promise.
  • Caps on your liability where permitted by law.

• Termination

  • When and how either party can end the relationship.

• Governing law and dispute resolution

  • Which laws govern your terms.
  • How disputes are to be handled (e.g. courts, arbitration).

• Changes to the terms

  • How you'll update the terms and how users will know.

What doesn't usually belong in T&Cs?

You may refer to privacy and cookies in your terms ("we process your personal data as described in our Privacy Policy"), but the detailed data-handling story usually lives in the Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy.

2. Privacy Policy: how you handle personal data

Your Privacy Policy (or privacy notice) explains, in a user-facing way, what you do with personal information.

Think of it as: "This is the data we collect, what we use it for, who we share it with, how we protect it, and what rights you have about it."

In many jurisdictions, publishing a privacy policy (or equivalent notice) is a legal requirement for online services that collect personal data. Specific details vary by region and law, but common themes repeat.

Typical topics in a Privacy Policy

Again, structure depends on your business and legal advice, but you often see:

• Who is responsible for the data

  • Your business identity.
  • Contact details for privacy queries (and sometimes a data protection officer or representative).

• What data you collect

  • Information provided directly (e.g. accounts, forms, purchases).
  • Data collected automatically (e.g. device info, usage data, IP addresses).
  • Data from third parties (e.g. payment providers, marketing partners).

• Why you collect it (purposes)

  • Running and improving the service.
  • Billing and payments.
  • Security and fraud prevention.
  • Marketing and analytics.

• Legal bases or justification (where required)

  • For example, consent, contract, legitimate interests, legal obligation.

• Who you share data with

  • Service providers (hosting, analytics, email, payment processors).
  • Partners or affiliates (if applicable).
  • When you might be required to share data with authorities.

• International transfers

  • If you transfer personal data across borders and how you safeguard it.

• How long you keep data

  • Retention periods or the criteria you use to set them.

• Rights and choices users have

  • Access, correction, deletion, restriction, opt-out, preferences.
  • How to exercise those rights.

• Security measures in place (high-level)

  • Technical and organisational measures, without exposing sensitive details.

• Cookies and tracking

  • Often a summary here, with a link to a dedicated cookie policy for more detail.

• How you update the policy

  • How users will know when this document changes.

What doesn't belong in the Privacy Policy?

The Privacy Policy is typically not where you:

• define what users can or cannot do on your site
• set billing, refunds, or liability rules
• decide governing law or dispute resolution mechanisms

Those belong in your Terms & Conditions.

3. Cookie Policy: zooming in on tracking technologies

A Cookie Policy (or cookie notice) explains the specific cookies and similar technologies you use on your site or app, and how users can manage them.

Think of it as: "Here's what we're storing in your browser or device, why, and how you can control it."

It's particularly important in jurisdictions where:

• consent is required for certain types of cookies (e.g. marketing, non-essential analytics), and
• regulators expect transparency about third-party tracking.

Typical topics in a Cookie Policy

• What cookies and similar technologies are

  • Short, plain-language explanation.

• Types of cookies you use

  • Strictly necessary (essential for the site to function).
  • Preferences / functionality.
  • Analytics / performance.
  • Advertising / targeting.

• Who sets the cookies

  • First-party (set by your domain).
  • Third-party (set by others, e.g. analytics, ad networks, embedded services).

• Why you use them

  • Security and login.
  • Remembering preferences.
  • Measuring usage.
  • Showing relevant advertising or preventing fraud.

• How long they last

  • Session vs persistent cookies.

• How users can manage them

  • In-browser settings.
  • Links to opt-out tools or preference centres.
  • Any cookie banner or preference manager you provide.

Sometimes the Cookie Policy is integrated as a section of the Privacy Policy; sometimes it stands alone but is linked from the Privacy Policy and cookie banner.

How these documents fit together for users

From a user's perspective, these three documents answer different questions:

• Terms & Conditions – "What are the rules, expectations and limits if I use this service or buy from this site?"
• Privacy Policy – "What happens to my personal information, and what choices do I have?"
• Cookie Policy – "What's happening in my browser, and how can I control it?"

In practice:

• The Terms may refer to the Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy ("we handle your personal information as described in our Privacy Policy").
• The Privacy Policy usually summarises cookies and tracking and may link to the full Cookie Policy.
• The Cookie Policy may link back to the Privacy Policy for extra context.

The key is that each document has a clear purpose, and they don't contradict each other.

Why clarity and consistency matter (legally and commercially)

Clarity and consistency are not just "nice to have" – they go to the heart of:

• legal enforceability

  • Courts and regulators look at whether users had clear notice of important terms and data uses, and whether they agreed in a meaningful way.

• regulatory expectations

  • Many privacy and consumer protection frameworks emphasise transparency and fairness – not hiding key information or burying it in confusing language.

• user trust

  • Users, especially business customers and more privacy-aware individuals, notice when your legal pages are a mess. Clean, coherent documents are a signal of professionalism.

If your Terms say one thing, your Privacy Policy suggests another, and your cookie banner says something else again, it's hard to defend that setup in a dispute.

Where consent and clickwrap fit in

These documents describe your rules and practices. But you also need a way to:

• present them at the right time (e.g. sign-up, checkout, feature activation), and
• prove that users agreed to them (clickwrap and consent logs).

Typical patterns:

• link to Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy from your account creation and checkout pages;
• use a clear clickwrap checkbox or button label ("By creating an account, you agree to our Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy");
• use separate cookie consent interfaces for non-essential cookies, where required;
• maintain logs linking each clickwrap or preference change to the specific version of the document that applied at the time.

This is where a system like SolidWraps becomes particularly useful.

How SolidWraps helps manage these documents as a system

SolidWraps is designed to treat your Terms, Privacy and Cookie policies as part of an integrated agreement and consent system, rather than isolated static pages.

1. Versioned hosting for different policy types

With SolidWraps, you can host:

• Terms & Conditions
• Privacy Policies
• Cookie Policies and notices

as separate, versioned policy types, each with:

• its own identifier
• its own history of changes
• optional region and segment tags (if you operate in multiple markets)

This makes it much easier to keep each document focused on its proper role, without losing track of how they've evolved.

2. Consistent presentation across your site

Instead of copying and pasting links and text into different templates, you can:

• use SolidWraps' hosted policy URLs in your footers and navigations;
• embed clickwrap flows that bundle the right combination of policies (e.g. Terms + Privacy) at sign-up or checkout;
• manage cookie-related text consistently across banners and preference centres.

This reduces the risk of drift, where one part of your site references an outdated or mismatched version.

3. Structured consent logs that tie it all together

When users agree to your Terms, acknowledge your Privacy Policy or set cookie preferences through SolidWraps, the platform:

• records which policy type(s) and version(s) were shown;
• links acceptance events to a user or device where possible;
• stores timestamps, IP-based location and surface/flow context.

Over time, you get a single, coherent consent trail that shows:

• who agreed to what
• when and where they agreed
• which version of each document applied

That's invaluable if you ever have to explain your position to a regulator, court, partner or customer.

Bringing it together

You don't need perfect, textbook legal documents to start. But you do need to be clear on:

• What belongs in your Terms & Conditions – the rules and deal between you and users.
• What belongs in your Privacy Policy – how you handle personal data and what rights people have.
• What belongs in your Cookie Policy – how you use cookies and similar technologies, and how users can control them.

Once you understand the roles of each, you can:

1. clean up your existing pages so they're clearer and less contradictory;
2. present them at the right time using clickwrap and clear, layered information;
3. log acceptance in a way that's easy to retrieve and explain.

Whether you manage it with internal tools or a consent management system like SolidWraps, treating these documents as a coherent system rather than scattered boilerplate is one of the simplest ways to reduce risk and build trust in your online business.