Every website accessible from France must display legal notices. This obligation, established by the law for confidence in the digital economy (LCEN) of June 21, 2004, applies to both showcase sites and online shops, personal blogs, and association platforms. The legal notices allow any visitor to identify who publishes the site, who hosts it, and how to contact the responsible party in case of a dispute.
Publisher and host: a distinction that legal notices must clarify
The confusion between publisher and host remains common. The publisher is the individual or legal entity that decides the content published on the site. The host is the technical provider that stores the files and makes them accessible online.
A web agency that designs a site is not necessarily its host. If the site is hosted by OVH, Ionos, or Amazon Web Services, it is this provider that must be listed in the legal notices as the host, along with its corporate name, address, and phone number.
This distinction has direct legal consequences. The publisher assumes responsibility for the published content, while the host is only responsible if it has been notified of illegal content and has not acted. A visitor consulting the Hommes Et Abeilles site finds, for example, this clear separation between the identification information of the publisher and that of the host.
Since May 2024, the SREN law has reorganized the provisions of the LCEN on this subject. The obligations for identifying publishers are now included in Article 1-1 of the LCEN, and the sanctions in Article 1-2. The structure of the text has changed, although the core information to be published remains comparable.
Mandatory legal notices: what varies according to the company’s status
The content of legal notices is not identical for everyone. It depends on the legal status of the publisher and the nature of their activity.
Legal entity or individual
For a company (SAS, SARL, SA), the notices must include the corporate name, legal form, amount of share capital, address of the registered office, an email address, and a phone number. The registration number in the trade and companies register (RCS) is required for commercial activities.
For a sole trader or a micro-enterprise, the obligations concern the name and surname, accompanied by the mention “sole trader” or the initials “EI”, the domicile address, an email address, and a phone number.
Regulated activities
Some professions impose additional mentions:
- Regulated professions (lawyers, architects, chartered accountants) must indicate the professional order to which they are attached and the rules governing their practice.
- Merchant sites must display a VAT number and specify the general terms of sale.
- Craft activities must mention the registration number in the directory of trades.
The publication director must be named in all cases. For a legal entity, this is generally the legal representative.
Personal data and cookies: obligations distinct from legal notices
The legal notices and the privacy policy respond to different texts. The former fall under the LCEN, the latter under the GDPR. Grouping the two on the same page is not prohibited, but it often results in lengthy documents that no one reads, mixing obligations of different natures.
A site must inventory the trackers used and obtain consent before their deposit when required. The CNIL requires that refusing cookies be as simple as accepting them, and that the visitor can modify or withdraw their choice at any time.
The privacy policy must specify the purposes of data collection, the legal basis for processing, the recipients of personal data, and the rights of the user (access, rectification, deletion, portability). These elements do not strictly fall under legal notices in the sense of the LCEN, but their absence exposes the publisher to sanctions under the GDPR.
Sanctions and controls in case of absent or incomplete legal notices
The absence of legal notices on a professional website constitutes an offense. For individuals, the penalty can reach one year of imprisonment and 75,000 euros in fines. For legal entities, the fine can be increased to 375,000 euros.
In practice, prosecutions remain rare for a simple omission of mention. Reports most often come from competitors, dissatisfied customers, or the DGCCRF during targeted checks on online commerce. The accessibility of legal notices is as important as their content: a link in the footer, visible from all pages of the site, is the expected norm.
Digital accessibility: a neighboring obligation not to be confused
Since June 28, 2025, the European accessibility law has extended its requirements to certain online commercial services, particularly in e-commerce, banking, and transport. Microenterprises providing services are exempt under certain conditions.
This obligation is distinct from legal notices, but it directly concerns the overall compliance of a site. A publisher questioning their legal notices should also check if their site falls within the scope of these new accessibility rules.
Legal notices remain a living document. A change of host, a modification of the company’s legal form, or the addition of a new tracker on the site requires an update. Checking legal notices at least once a year prevents outdated information from being left online that no longer protects anyone.
