So I’ve been wanting to build my own web apps for a while now, but I can’t seem to find any info on the legal stuff that goes into that. I know at minimum I’ll need a privacy policy.

Like do I need a lawyer to get everything set up? I’m not talking about creating a startup. Just web apps that people can use, e.g. a casual budget app or content aggregator. Just looking for a side hustle for a little extra cash and some experience.

What about compliance with the tech I use? If I setup a freemium app, am I out of compliance with open source tech I’m using? Anyway sorry for the long post 😅

Privacy policies are mandatory when you collect, process or sell user data.

If you only use the minimum technology enabling data (session cookies, etc), you can just use any template off the internet.

If you intend to do stuff with personal data, then I'd recommend consulting a data protection lawyer yes.

Compliance with tech, as in, licensing, depends on what you do.

Most open source licenses allow commercial use, so nothing needed on that front besides respecting keeping license notices, attributions, etc.

Special case for GPL. GPL forces you to license your project with GPL too, but is uncommon in web apps.

Note though that GPL doesn't forbid commercial usage. It only imposes that you must make your source code available upon request. (Which on client-side web frameworks is already there anyway).

i think @CoreFusionX has the right answer but like. honestly why are you worried about that? just build it, unless you are actively using peoples data and you have significant traffic don't worry about it

@Meleeman just not wanting to get sued lol