What legal pages does a business website need in Portugal?

The red complaints book went online years ago. Since 1 July 2018 businesses in all sectors have to offer the electronic version, not only the paper one. If you have a salon, a café or a shop, you still need the paper book on site too. The online one doesn't replace it.

What to do:

• Register your business on livroreclamacoes.pt (you'll need an email where complaints will arrive).
• Put a visible link to the platform on your website. The law asks for a visible and prominent place, so the footer of every page is the usual choice. There is an official icon you can use.
• Answer complaints that come in within 15 working days, to the email the customer gave.

The e-commerce law (Decreto-Lei 7/2004) says a website has to show who is behind it. For most businesses that means:

• Full name or company name
• Real address (not only "Lisbon")
• Email and phone
• NIF / NIPC
• VAT number, if you have one

It sounds obvious, but we regularly see sites where the only contact is an Instagram link. Clients trust a business more when they can see a real name and address. Google does too.

If your site collects any personal data, you need one. And "any" includes more than people think: a contact form, an online booking, a newsletter signup, a WhatsApp button that passes a phone number, Google Analytics.

A normal privacy policy explains, in human language:

• What data you collect (name, email, phone, booking history…)
• Why you collect it and on what legal basis
• Who else gets it. Your booking system, email service, Google, Meta. Name them.
• How long you keep it
• What rights people have (access, correction, deletion) and how to use them
• That they can complain to the CNPD

Put a link to it next to every form, not only in the footer.

In Portugal cookies are covered by Lei 41/2004. The rule is simple: cookies that aren't strictly necessary need consent before they are set. Strictly necessary means things like the shopping cart, login or security. Analytics, Meta Pixel and ad tracking are not on that list, even if the data is "anonymous".

What a working banner looks like:

• Nothing non-essential loads until the person clicks "Accept"
• "Reject" is as easy to find as "Accept"
• No pre-ticked boxes
• People can change their mind later (a small link or icon is enough)

The most common mistake we find: the banner is there, it looks nice, and Google Analytics loads anyway before anyone clicks anything. A banner that doesn't block scripts is decoration.

Next to the banner, you need a short Cookie Policy page listing which cookies you use and why.

If people can pay on your site, you need clear terms before they pay. For online shops that includes:

• Prices with VAT and delivery costs
• Delivery times
• Payment methods
• The 14-day right of withdrawal and how to return an item
• Warranty information

For salons and studios with online booking and prepayment, the useful bit is your cancellation and no-show rules. Write them once, clearly, and link them at checkout. It saves a lot of awkward messages later.

If your business is a member of a consumer arbitration centre, or your sector requires it, your site should say which one and how to contact it.

And a small clean-up job: many sites still have a link to the EU online dispute resolution platform (ODR) in the footer or terms. That platform closed on 20 July 2025, and the obligation to link to it ended with it. If you still have it, remove it. A dead official link doesn't look good.

Since 28 June 2025 the European Accessibility Act applies in Portugal through Decreto-Lei 82/2022. For websites it mainly affects online shops. Micro businesses providing services are exempt.

Even if it doesn't apply to you yet, the basics are worth doing anyway: readable font sizes, enough contrast, alt text on images, buttons that work with a keyboard. It's also good for SEO, which is a nice bonus for something you'd do anyway.