PipeflowDo Instagram and LinkedIn need a legal notice?
Many businesses only think of their website when it comes to the legal notice. According to a widely held view, however, the information and legal notice requirements in Austria and Germany also apply to profiles used for business on Instagram, LinkedIn or other platforms. A profile you use to present your business and win customers is simply more than a private hobby.
A purely private account where you share holiday pictures is something else. But the line is not always clear. If you regularly promote your tax advisory firm or collect enquiries on your private LinkedIn profile, you quickly move into business territory.
This article is guidance, not legal advice. The exact requirements depend on your legal form, your industry and your country.
Austria and Germany: a similar idea, their own rules
In both countries the goal is the same: anyone acting in business should be identifiable and reachable. But the obligations are set out in different laws. In Austria, several regulations work together, for example from e-commerce law, company law and media law. In Germany, the key rules are the so-called provider identification requirements, which were long part of the Telemedia Act and are now set out in a newer law.
That is why it is not a good idea to simply copy a German business's legal notice for an Austrian one, or the other way round. Use your existing website legal notice as the basis if it has been checked, and if in doubt have it reviewed by someone who knows your country's rules.
The practical solution: an easy-to-reach link
On Instagram and LinkedIn you have little space for long details. The usual solution is therefore a link to the legal notice on your website. It is important that this link is easy to find and clearly recognisable as the legal notice. A common rule of thumb is that the legal notice should be reachable in a few clicks and clearly labelled, for example "Legal Notice" or "Contact and Legal Notice".
If you only link to your home page and the legal notice is hidden at the very bottom in the footer, that is less clear. A direct link to the legal notice page is better. If you already use a link page with several links, the legal notice should be visible and clearly named there.
The advantage of this solution: you maintain your details in just one place. If your address or phone number changes, you update the website, and all profiles automatically point to the latest version. That is safer than maintaining details separately in several profiles and forgetting an old version somewhere.
How to do it on Instagram
On Instagram you can add links to your profile. What exactly this is called and how many links are possible keeps changing. You usually find it under "Edit profile". One approach many businesses use:
- Add the link: enter the legal notice page of your website directly, or create a link titled "Legal Notice".
- Add to your bio: a short note like "Legal notice: link in profile" makes it even more visible.
- Check: test in the app and in the browser whether the link works on a phone.
- Keep it up to date: if you move, change your legal form or get a new address, update the website and the link.
How to do it on LinkedIn
On LinkedIn the solution differs depending on whether you use a personal profile or a company page. On a company page, the page information section has fields for the website and description. There you can refer to the legal notice, for example with a sentence like "Legal notice: your-website.at/impressum" in the description.
With a personal profile that you use for business, you can add a link in the contact section or the About section. Here too: name it clearly and lead directly to the legal notice page. The menus change regularly, so follow LinkedIn's current help pages.
What belongs in the legal notice and who can give you binding advice
What exactly belongs in your legal notice depends on your business. Typical details are your name or company name, address, a way to contact you, and where applicable your company register details and VAT identification number. Many professions need further details, for example about the responsible chamber or supervisory authority and professional rules. This applies, for example, to practices, law firms, pharmacies, and financial and insurance advisers.
In Austria you can get binding information from the Wirtschaftskammer, in Germany from the IHK or Chamber of Crafts, from your professional chamber or from a lawyer. Many chambers offer fact sheets and advice for members. It is better to have your legal notice checked once than to copy it together from other sites.