Practice Areas

  Business Counseling

Seller of Travel Laws

Contract Drafting and Review
  • Global Distribution System (GDS) Contracts
  • Travel Technology Contracts
  • Group Tour and Incentive Contracts

Waiver Agreements

e-Commerce and Marketing
  • Websites
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policies

Department of Transportation Compliance
  • Full-Fare Advertising
  • Baggage Fee Disclosures
  • Code-Share Disclosures
  • Post-Purchase Price Increases

ARC Appointments and Compliance

Employment Matters
  • Independent Contractors
  • Employment Agreements
Websites
We can review your website and marketing materials from top to bottom and advise on content to help ensure that the promotional claims made on your site or in press releases are legally compliant.

Terms of Use
Zim Travel Law can also help minimize your company's exposure to liability by drafting conditional Terms of Use for users of your website. A Terms of Use document is a legally enforceable contract between website owners and users.

One of the most important functions of a Terms of Use policy is that the geographic area in which site users can legally bring suit can be restricted to the state or locality in which the website owner is domiciled. This is a hugely important measure which prevents you from being sued in courts that are hundreds of miles away, sparing you the unnecessary expense and liability. Similarly, the amount of damages that users of your site can recover in litigation can be substantially limited so that the prospect of suing the website owner becomes an unfruitful exercise. Among other things, Terms of Use can be used to disclaim warranties  for: (1) the information posted on your site; (2) travel counseling advice or services conducted online; and (3) technological failures that result from use of the site such as viral infections and malware attacks.

Privacy Policy
On a daily basis, travel agencies collect, handle and store a lot of personally identifiable information including customer names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, passport numbers and credit card information. A privacy policy is designed to explain to the  customer how that information is collected and stored.

Although no federal law currently exists requiring you to post a privacy policy on your website, there have been numerous attempts in recent years to mandate this practice nationwide. Notwithstanding, California law requires commercial websites and online services that obtain personally identifiable information about California consumers to post their privacy policies.  In addition, if you process credit card transactions online, your credit card processor may require you to post a privacy policy as a part of your merchant agreement. Further, a number of states and the federal government have enacted laws require commercial website owners to adopt certain prescribed measures to protect the privacy of consumers in other ways. Therefore, if your business engages in online interstate commerce chances are that you may be affected by privacy legislation in one or more jurisdictions.

However, the decision of whether or not to post a privacy policy is not a simple matter and can often seem like a double-edged sword. Not having one can put you at risk for lawsuits and governmental enforcement actions in California. On the other hand, if you have established a privacy policy, merely posting it on your website is not sufficient by itself. You actually have to adjust your practices and operation so that you keep the promises that you make related to the customer's personal data. The Federal Trade Commission regards it as an unfair and deceptive business practice when a company fails to uphold its privacy pledge and the agency regularly engages in enforcement actions to gain compliance.

Zim Travel Law can counsel you on developing a privacy strategy for your business. If it is necessary for you to post a privacy policy on your website, we can prepare one and help you maintain compliance with federal and state law.