Terms of service implementation for website

Terms of Service Implementation on Site

Terms of Service (Terms / Public Offer) — public agreement between service and user, defining site usage rules, rights and obligations of both parties.

Legal Status

In Russia, terms are typically structured as public offer per Articles 435-437 of the Russian Civil Code. Acceptance (acceptance) — registration, checkout, or explicit checkbox. Important: "by clicking button, you agree" is legally weaker than explicit checkbox.

Technical Implementation

Separate page with permanent URL:

Route::get('/terms', fn() => view('legal.terms'))->name('terms');
Route::get('/terms/{version}', [LegalController::class, 'termsVersion'])->name('terms.version');

Versioning:

class LegalDocument extends Model
{
    protected $fillable = ['type', 'version', 'content', 'is_current', 'effective_from'];

    public static function currentTerms(): self
    {
        return static::where('type', 'terms')
            ->where('is_current', true)
            ->firstOrFail();
    }
}

Fixing acceptance version:

// On registration record accepted agreement version
$user->update([
    'terms_version_accepted'   => LegalDocument::currentTerms()->version,
    'terms_accepted_at'        => now(),
    'terms_accepted_ip'        => $request->ip(),
]);

Forced re-confirmation on update:

// Middleware
class RequireCurrentTerms
{
    public function handle(Request $request, Closure $next)
    {
        $currentVersion = LegalDocument::currentTerms()->version;

        if (auth()->check()
            && auth()->user()->terms_version_accepted !== $currentVersion
            && !$request->is('terms*', 'logout*', 'accept-terms')) {
            return redirect()->route('terms.accept');
        }

        return $next($request);
    }
}

Links:

{{-- In footer --}}
<a href="{{ route('terms') }}">Terms of Service</a>

{{-- On registration --}}
<label>
    <input type="checkbox" name="terms_accepted" required>
    I accept <a href="{{ route('terms') }}" target="_blank">terms of service</a>
</label>

Implementation Timeline

Technical part with versioning and acceptance tracking — 6–10 hours.