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Don’t ask me if you need to comply with any of the following rules or regulations. I don’t know the details or legal requirements of your business, or who your customers or clients are, or what rules and regulations that your business is subject to. Therefore, I am not able to determine which, if any, of the requirements apply to you. You are the “expert” in your field, not me.

If you don’t know whether any of the following regulations apply to your business or your web site, then I suggest that you consult a qualified representative in your field to find out more information.

If one or more regulations do apply, then it is up to you to tell your web master how the web site must be built, or what must be included (or not included) in the site, to comply with the appropriate regulations.

I am not an attorney, nor am I qualified to offer legal advice on whether or not you or your web site needs to meet certain standards or regulations, so nothing on this page is to be taken as such advice.

Here is a partial list of some of the guidelines and regulations. I’ve included some links to web sites with more information. For additional information, do a search on the Internet or seek a qualified consultant.

Federal Regulation Compliance.

• Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
• Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
• Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)
• Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA)
• Federal Agency Security Practices (FASP)
• Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS)
• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
• Federal Labeling and Record-Keeping Law (also known as 18 U.S.C. 2257)
• Federal Rehabilitation Act, Section 508

If any of these (or others) do apply to you, have you taken appropriate measures to comply with them? These all provide strict guidelines for protecting certain data, or keeping (or disposing of) certain data, and penalties for failing to follow the guidelines. If any of these do apply to you, is there some part that also applies to your web site?

State Regulation Compliance. For example, these:

• The California Disabled Persons Act, which guarantees full and equal access for people with disabilities to all public places, and California considers the Internet/World Wide Web to be a public place.
• The California Unruh Civil Rights Act, which prohibits denying disabled patrons full and equal access or providing products or services inferior to non-disabled patrons.

There might be various state laws that implement or incorporate the federal regulations at the state level.

Local Regulation Compliance. Some city or town probably has enacted some rule or law about web sites and/or their content. One possibility that I can think of is perhaps some type or variation of “blue law” regarding selling certain items on certain days or at certain times. Are you located in such a city or town?

Organizational compliance. Some organizations and religions require their members or followers to comply with various standards and practices in business operations. For example:

• a religious web site might have to “close” during certain hours of the day or day of the week or for certain periods of the year.
• a Real Estate web site might have to comply with the policies established by the parent organization.

revised: March 22, 2007

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