The legal notices refer to a set of information that every website publisher must display publicly. This obligation is grounded in the law for confidence in the digital economy (LCEN) of June 21, 2004, which imposes a minimum transparency towards visitors: knowing who publishes a site, how to contact them, and who hosts their data.
Legal notices and LCEN: the legal framework after the SREN law of 2024
Most online guides cite the LCEN of 2004 without mentioning that the SREN law has reorganized its provisions since May 23, 2024. The obligations for identifying publishers are now found in article 1-1 of the LCEN, and the sanctions in article 1-2. The principle remains the same, but the numbering of the articles has changed.
This reorganization does not add any new substantive obligation. It clarifies the reading of the text by grouping provisions by theme. For a website publisher, the practical consequence is simple: the legal references cited in legal notices drafted before 2024 may point to articles that have been renumbered.
A concrete example of a page compliant with this transparency requirement: the legal notices of Lordy’sweblog.net display the publisher’s contact details, the host, and the terms of use of the data, which corresponds to the foundation imposed by the LCEN.
Mandatory content of legal notices according to the publisher’s status
The required content varies depending on whether the publisher is a professional, an individual, or an association. This distinction is often overlooked, even though it directly determines the information to be published.
Professional publisher (company, self-employed)
The professional publisher must display their full identity: company name, legal form, address of the headquarters, phone number, and email address. Additionally, the registration number in the trade and companies register or the crafts directory, the VAT number, and the share capital must be included.
For regulated professions, the notices include a reference to the applicable professional rules, the professional title, and the name of the order or organization with which the publisher is registered.
Non-professional publisher (personal blog, association site)
An individual who publishes a site on a non-professional basis can maintain anonymity from the public, provided they have communicated their contact details to their host. The host must then be clearly identified in the legal notices: company name, address, and phone number.
Information about the host
Regardless of the publisher’s status, the legal notices must include the contact details of the site’s host. Here are the required elements:
- Name or company name of the host
- Postal address of their headquarters
- Phone number to reach them
Personal data and cookies: obligations distinct from legal notices
A common confusion is to mix legal notices and privacy policy. These are two different legal blocks, even though they often coexist on the same page.
The legal notices identify the publisher of the site. The privacy policy, on the other hand, describes the processing of personal data collected: purposes, legal basis, retention period, rights of the individuals concerned. This second obligation arises from the GDPR and falls under the control of the CNIL.
For cookies, the site must obtain the user’s prior consent before placing any trackers that are not strictly necessary for the functioning of the service. The consent banner and the cookie policy complement the legal notices without substituting them.
The information to be provided under the GDPR includes:
- The identity and contact details of the data controller
- The purposes and legal basis for each processing of personal data
- The recipients or categories of recipients of the data
- The retention period of the data or the criteria used to determine it
- The rights of the individual concerned (access, rectification, erasure, portability)
Sanctions for the absence of legal notices on a website
The absence of legal notices constitutes a criminal offense. The penalties provided apply to both individuals and legal entities. For an individual, the LCEN provides for a penalty of up to one year in prison and a fine. For a legal entity, the applicable fine is higher.
Beyond the criminal penalty, the absence of legal notices exposes one to a risk of formal notice by the CNIL if the site collects personal data without properly informing users. The CNIL can impose administrative sanctions independently of any judicial proceedings.
Reputational risk for professional sites
A professional site lacking legal notices sends a negative signal to visitors. The inability to identify the site’s responsible party undermines the trust relationship, especially on e-commerce sites where the visitor must provide their banking details. A site without legal notices loses commercial credibility even before any legal questions arise.
Marketplaces and platforms: enhanced transparency obligations
Marketplace operators are not limited to the classic legal notices of a showcase site. They must inform the buyer about the quality of the seller (professional or individual) and the parameters for ranking offers, especially when a commercial link affects their position in the results.
This obligation for transparency regarding the ranking of offers is in addition to the standard identification notices. It aims to prevent the buyer from confusing a sponsored result with a ranking based on relevance or customer reviews.
Legal notices constitute the minimum foundation of transparency for a website, not an optional administrative exercise. Since the reorganization of the LCEN by the SREN law, the legal references deserve verification. A publisher who updates their notices by checking the current numbering of the articles and clearly separating the privacy policy from the identification of the publisher covers the essential of their obligations.
