Terms of service page exists
Why it matters
Without a terms-of-service page, you have no written agreement limiting liability, defining acceptable use, or establishing governing law — disputes default to whatever jurisdiction the plaintiff chooses. Payment processors including Stripe require terms for high-risk categories, and app stores reject submissions that lack them. User-generated content sites face DMCA exposure without a takedown clause, and subscription products cannot enforce refund policies that users never agreed to.
Severity rationale
High because it creates direct legal and financial exposure on any site with accounts, payments, or user content.
Remediation
Create a route at app/terms/page.tsx covering acceptable use, service guarantees, payment and refund terms, account termination, limitation of liability, and governing law. Link it from the footer and add a consent checkbox at signup (By signing up you agree to our Terms). Start from a template service like Termly or Docracy, then have counsel review if you accept payments, handle PII, or host user content.
// components/footer.tsx
<Link href="/terms">Terms of Service</Link>
DetectionPro
The detection method for this pattern is part of AuditBuffet Pro.
The full method (what to look for, pass and fail conditions, and how results get reported) ships inside the Pre-Launch Checklist Audit. The pattern definition, severity rationale, and remediation remain openly licensed under CC-BY-4.0.
Taxons
History
- 2026-04-18·v1.0.0·Initial import from pre-launch·automated