How to Automatically Create Terms of Service and Privacy Policy Documents

If you own or operate a business and need a Terms of Service, Privacy, or various other legal documents, check out the Legalmattic repository on Github. In 2014, Automattic open sourced all of its legal documents, including its DMCA takedown notice. If you choose an Automattic legal document as a foundation to write your own, consider using the Auto Terms of Service and Privacy Policy plugin.

Created by Clifford Paulick, this plugin places the information entered into a version of Automattic’s Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, both available under the Creative Commons Sharealike license. The documents are modified to exclude specifics to Automattic, such as mentions of Jetpack, WordPress.com, and VIP. Each document has generic language that can apply to most sites and service providers, including single sites, subscription sites, blog networks, and others.

Configuration is as simple as placing company information into the appropriate fields. Once entered, you’ll need to turn on the Display setting at the top to enable the three different shortcodes.

• [my_terms_of_service_and_privacy_policy]
• [my_terms_of_service]
• [my_privacy_policy]

Here’s what the Tavern terms of service page looks like using the terms of service shortcode.

The plugin works as advertised and is a convenient way to provide legal documents if you’re a service provider like Automattic. However, if you need to fine tune the results, you can either copy the output from the shortcode and paste it into the page or use the source document from the Legalmattic repository. While Automattic’s documents give you a head start, it’s probably still a good idea to seek legal counsel to review and edit them so they’re specifically tailored to your business.