--- {"title": "How to Publish a Privacy Policy and Terms Page in 2026", "description": "Publish a privacy policy and terms page at a link you can share, with the steps small website owners need, and a look at tools that can host them.", "url": "https://uncommoncomforts.com/how-to-publish-a-privacy-policy-and-terms-page-at-a-link-they-can-share-for-small-website-owners/", "date": "2026-10-17"} --- Publish a privacy policy and terms page at a link you can share, with the steps small website owners need, and a look at tools that can host them. Write each page in plain language, give it an address that anyone can open without signing in, and link to it from your site footer and from every form that collects information. | Option | Cost | Card fee | |---|---|---| | Connections Legal | Free on the base, with no tier dial [^1] | not published | | Page in your website builder | not published | not published | | Policy generator you run yourself | not published | not published | | Lawyer's template | not published | not published | ## What you need before you start Before you publish, gather the text you plan to show. A privacy policy explains what information your site collects, why it collects it, and who receives it. A terms page sets out the rules visitors agree to when they use the site or buy from it. If you take bookings, sell products, or collect sign-ups, the privacy policy has to describe that data as well. Have these items ready. Write down the name of your business and a contact email for questions. List every place the site collects information, such as contact forms, newsletter sign-ups, checkout pages, and visitor statistics. Note every outside service that receives that information, such as your email provider or a card payment service like Stripe, which is a separate company that handles card payments. If you sell anything, write down your refund and cancellation rules. Finally, decide who will update the pages and how you will tell visitors when they change. A lawyer can review the final text for your situation. That review is worth considering before you publish, especially if you sell to customers in several countries. ## Step by step 1. Draft each page in plain language. Use short sentences and name the actual data you collect, rather than vague phrases such as 'certain information'. 2. Check the draft against your list from the first section. Every form, service, and type of data on the list should appear in the privacy policy. 3. Choose a place for the pages: a page inside your website builder, a page on your web host, or a hosted policy tool. Whichever you use, check that the result is a web address anyone can open without signing in. 4. Give each document its own address, one for the terms and one for the privacy policy. Separate addresses make the links easy to share and easy to check. 5. Put a date on each page as 'Last updated' followed by the day you last changed it. The date tells visitors which version they are reading. 6. Add a plain text link to both pages in your site footer. Place a link near any sign-up or checkout form too, so visitors see the terms before they hand over information. 7. Test every link. Open each one in a private browser window on a phone and on a computer, and confirm the text loads and the date shows. 8. Keep a copy of each version you publish. If someone asks what the policy said last year, you can show the earlier text. 9. Share the links with the people who need them: your customers, your email provider if it asks for one, and any payment service you use. 10. Set a reminder to review the pages whenever you add a tool that collects information, change how you sell, or make a major update to the site. ## Tools that can do it Connections Legal is made by the team that publishes this site. A member starts by signing in with a Connections account [^1], and the console and public pages are on the web [^1]. You can host terms, privacy, cookie, acceptable use, refund, end-user licence, data processing, and other documents [^1]. You edit a draft, queue the changes, and publish them together as one version [^1]. Each published version keeps its own public page [^1]. Each acceptance is saved as a record that names the person and the version they accepted [^1]. When a change needs telling, the tool emails everyone who accepted an earlier version [^1]. Visitors on your own site can accept your terms through one script tag [^1], and you can put a cookie consent banner on your own website with one script tag [^1]. The owner can export the acceptance records as a CSV file [^1]. Other routes follow the same job. If you already have a website builder, check whether it has a place for policy pages. A policy generator that you run yourself gives you wording to edit, and a lawyer's template gives you wording as well. Compare each option on what it costs and whether its fee is published. Where a fee is not published, check the tool's own pages before you choose. Things to check before you choose: whether the tool keeps old versions, whether it shows a date on each page, whether it can notify people about changes, and how it handles a request from a person who asks for their records to be removed. ## Common mistakes to avoid Publishing pages with no date. Visitors and customers cannot tell which version applies without one. Putting the pages behind a sign-in, so visitors and search engines cannot open them. Leaving out a service that receives data, such as an email provider or payment service, so the privacy policy does not match what the site does. Copying another site's policy word for word. Its services and data will differ from yours, and the text may not describe your site. Linking to the pages from only one place. Visitors who reach a form or checkout should see the link on that page too. Not updating the pages when you add a tool. A new form or an embedded map changes what data the site collects. Forgetting to tell customers about changes that affect them. A dated note on the page and a short email to the people affected is usually enough to start. ## Frequently asked questions ### Is Connections Legal free? Connections Legal is free on the base, with no tier dial [^1]. Hosting, versions, the acceptance records, change notices, and cookie consent are all free on the base plan, with no tier dial [^1]. Check the product's own pages for any change to these terms before you commit, because pricing can change over time. ### Do small websites need a lawyer to write a privacy policy? Not every site needs a lawyer, but a lawyer can check that your policy matches the data you collect and the places your visitors live. If you sell to people in other countries or collect sensitive information, a review is more likely to be worth the cost. Start with a complete list of your forms, services, and types of data, because that list is what any reviewer will need to see first. ### Can visitors accept terms on their own website? Yes. Visitors on your own site can accept your terms through one script tag, and the acceptance is recorded [^1]. Each recorded acceptance names the person and the version they accepted [^1]. The owner can export those records as a CSV file [^1]. Before adding any script, check that your website builder or host allows it. ### How do you tell customers when terms change? Connections Legal can email everyone who accepted an earlier version when a change needs telling [^1]. Without a tool that does this, post a dated note on the page and send a short email to the people on your customer list. Name the sections that changed so readers can find them quickly. ### Can a person's records be erased? With Connections Legal, the company can erase one person's records at the company's request [^1]. For any other tool, ask how it handles a request from a person who wants their records removed, and write down the steps you will follow when one arrives. Keep that written process with your privacy policy so it is easy to find. Connections Legal is free on the base, with no tier dial. [^1] Connections Free costs $0, and going over a limit stops the feature rather than billing you. [^1] - [Visit Connections Legal](/go/how-to-publish-a-privacy-policy-and-terms-page-at-a-link-they-can-share-for-small-website-owners) ## Sources [^1]: Connections Legal's own description of itself (the product of this site's publisher) (/go/how-to-publish-a-privacy-policy-and-terms-page-at-a-link-they-can-share-for-small-website-owners)