What is an Impressum and its difference with privacy policy

Impressum

An Impressum is the statement of facts about the business. Therefore, think of a more formal “About Us” page. It contains information about the company’s ownership, business address, and contact details.

Why do I need an Impressum?

Impressum obligation, provider identification, or service-information requirement! – No matter what you call it, a website must show clearly, who is behind the content. And that applies not only to commercial pages – already an affiliate link or banner can be enough to make an otherwise private side, a side that must have an Impressum.

In countries like Germany, Austria, Switzerland, among several other countries, the Impressum requires by law. For any App, Website, Online services, or other Impressum page or section is required. Hope you got what is an impressum now or check here. 

Do I Need an Impressum?

Three German-speaking countries go through national laws that require a business to produce Impressum:

  1. Germany
  2. Austria
  3. Switzerland

If the business is establishing with one of these countries, you will have a significant business where people in these countries require Impressum by law.

Hence, if your business doesn’t have operations in any of these countries, you don’t need an Impressum.

Does Facebook Require you to Add an Impressum?

Here, Facebook’s Pages, Groups and Events Policies require Page Admins has to respect all applicable laws:

Hence, if you operate in Germany, Austria, or Switzerland, Facebook does require you to have an Impressum where an Impressum is a legal requirement.

Facebook doesn’t require you to have an Impressum

 if you don’t operate in these countries.

Difference Between a Privacy Policy and an Impressum?

Here, an Impressum is a list of information about your business. A Privacy Policy is an essential document that explains how and why your business collects, uses, and shares personal information.

Here, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland require an Impressum by law. Here, it will be best if you had a Privacy Policy, pretty much wherever your company is based.

Thus, our Privacy Policy Generator makes it straightforward to create a Privacy Policy for your website. You need to follow these steps:

  1. You need to click on the “Privacy Policy Generator” button.
  2. Now, select the Website option and click “Next step”:
  3. You need to answer the questions about your website and click “Next step” when finished:
  4. You might answer the questions about your business practices and click “Next step” when finished:
  5. Then enter your email address where you’d like your policy sent, select translation versions, and click “Generate.”

For example, the California Online Privacy Protection Act (CalOPPA) requires you to create a Privacy Policy if your business serves customers in California. You might comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) if you have customers in the UK or the EU.

Here, a Privacy Policy requires some of the same sorts of information as an Impressum, such as your company’s name and contact details. But, it’s a much more extensive document than an Impressum.

What do we Include in Your Facebook Page Impressum?

Thus, the German law, known as the Telemedia Act (English version available here), sets out the requirements for what can include in an Impressum.

  • Name of the business owner
  • The registered address of the business
  • Contact details, including an email address
  • You need registration details, including the name of the register and the registration number.
  • If the company is part of a regulated profession, details of the relevant chamber, designation, and professional rules
  • Here, if applicable, VAT ID number or business ID number

.

Here’s an extract from Audi’s Facebook Page Impressum:

You need to note that Audi lists its Managing Board members rather than a single business owner.

And here’s an example from Deutsche Telekom:

Here, Bosch does this differently. Hence, the Impressum section of Bosch’s Facebook page contains a link to its Impressum:

The Impressum itself hosts on Bosch’s website. Here is an excerpt from Bosch’s Impressum:

Hence, linking your Facebook page to a separate Impressum is a good idea for readability if your Impressum has much information.

How do we add an Impressum to Your Facebook Page?

Here, add an Impressum to your Facebook Page is simple.

Now, log into your Facebook Page and select “Edit Page Info”:

Then, scroll down to the “More” section and enter your business information in the “Impressum” field on the Page Info page:

Facebook limits Impressums to 2,000 characters. It may be enough to enter all the information required.

If not, remember you may create a separate hosted Impressum page and add the URL in this field as Bosch did in the earlier example.