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Imprint obligation for apps
Whether there is an obligation for an imprint in apps and how it can be implemented, read here!
7 minutes to read
In the age of digitalization, it is common for information to be stored and reproduced online. Which of these sources of information is trustworthy becomes difficult to determine with the immense quantity. Regulations and laws for the owner’s details in the concerned media are therefore very important. On the pages themselves is responsible for the imprint. But what is an imprint, what does it do and is there an imprint obligation? These issues are explored in the following blog post.
What is an imprint?
When talking about an imprint, it is a page that contains information about the provider of the medium, whether it is a book, magazine, website or app. This information should help you to get an overview about the legal regulations and circumstances. This way, it is precisely regulated who is behind which page and whom the customer can contact in case of problems.
Through § 5 TMG as well as § 55 RStV of the Telemedia Act (TMG) results in the so-called "provider identification". The following things must be provided in this:
- Name and address of the site operator.
- In the case of a legal entity, the legal form must also be indicated.
- Details of a readily accessible and electronic means of contact – usually consisting of e-mail and telephone number.
- In the case of work that requires regulatory approval, the relevant regulatory authority must be indicated.
- The register, whether commercial, association, partnership or cooperative register, in which the page is registered and the corresponding register number.
- In the case of information about a profession or qualification, the chamber to which the site operator belongs and the legal designation of the profession must be indicated. In addition, the state from which the professional title and the access of the professional regulations originate.
- A sales tax identification number, if given.
- Corporations, which include, for example, stock corporations, limited partnerships with limited liability and business partnerships, must provide information on liquidation and winding up.
For whom is this obligatory?
According to the Telemedia Act, "service providers" must have an imprint. Specifically, the obligation is directed at domestic providers, regardless of the language or location from which the medium is operated. Foreign website operators who have German consumers as their target group are also obliged to provide an imprint. Each of these pages, which is not purely for private purposes, should therefore contain an imprint.
This should also be accessible to the user in two clicks from the original home page, as the law itself speaks of "easily recognizable, immediately accessible and constantly available".
What happens in case of infringements?
With offences against the imprint obligation or one of the requirements explained above there are warnings. A warning in this respect is a letter from a lawyer, in which a violation of the law is pointed out. These are by no means rare: It is the most common type of warning cases that companies and self-employed persons who operate a website on the Internet or an app in an app store have to deal with.
If there is a court case about the violation, the changes must be made within 1-2 weeks, otherwise there are fines of at least 1.000 euros. After the correction of the violation, however, it has not done with the issue. In addition, a cease-and-desist declaration with a penalty clause must be submitted, which is usually enclosed by the warning lawyer. According to § 12 UWG, the costs of the warning must also be reimbursed by the site operator.
However, there is not only an imprint obligation for apps, but also in app stores – without can also follow warnings.
Imprint obligation for apps
The fact that websites require an imprint is now widely known. However, what few people know is that apps also have to show this page. Often these are added incompletely or even forgotten. According to the TMG, apps also fall under the category of telemedia, which means that they are also subject to the imprint obligation, regardless of whether the apps are free or subject to a fee. As with websites, mobile applications that serve solely private purposes are exempt from this regulation.
What must be observed?
In particular, developers and clients should try to avoid mistakes from the outset in the case of apps. The change is made quickly, but this must also go through a new release for the App Store. Thus, more time is taken and can lead to a higher fine.
Also for apps it is said: The imprint must be "easily recognizable, immediately accessible and permanently available". Thus, the placement of this page is an important question in the app conception. On websites, the imprint is usually in the footer and can be easily found by scrolling down. Smartphones are perfect to transport due to their small and compact size, but the arrangement of a lot of information turns out to be difficult. The goal is to find a solution that does not compromise usability and user experience while meeting the requirements of the Telemedia Act.
But how can transparency and recognizability of the imprint be enforced in an app?
There are different ways to include the imprint in an app. For example, the imprint can be stored as an HTML file in the app. When opening the imprint, the user is then shown a webview. Alternatively, the imprint can also be created as a native view. It is important to note that the imprint must be accessible in the app even if there is no Internet connection. Therefore, a simple link on a web page is not sufficient.
For our projects we found different solutions for the placement of the imprint.
Example PUMPMOVE
In the PUMPMOVE Performance app, this is integrated once in the settings and linked another time in the login itself. So the user can inform himself already during the registration about the legal regulations, as well as after the registration in the settings.
To ensure that the customer can easily find the site, no icons or symbols are used, but a clear description with imprint or in English imprint. The rule that the imprint should be found after only two clicks is thus also implemented here.
In addition, the page is loaded directly when downloading the app, so that no reloading is required and the provider identification can also be called up offline without any problems. This is how the point of constant availability of the TMG is realized.
In addition, the imprint should be accessible in the app description in the app store itself. This has the purpose that the customer, if necessary, already has the opportunity to inform himself about the factual situation before use. Here the indication of the contact is very important.
Conclusion
The imprint is an important part of a medium, no matter if website or app. It shows the customer the trustworthiness of a site and its provider. For apps, it is extremely important that the imprint obligation is taken seriously here. Repeatedly uploading the changes to the App Store can not only be time-consuming, but also costly, as court costs and warning fees have to be paid.
Besides completeness and correctness the imprint should also be placed correctly. The consumer must be able to retrieve this in a few clicks. In addition, it should be available online as well as offline. If all these aspects are taken into account, nothing can go wrong with the next publication.