What information must a website display to comply with French law, and what differences apply between a sole proprietorship and a company? Requirements vary depending on the publisher’s legal status, the type of activity carried out and whether personal data is collected. This article compares the requirements point by point to identify the differences that pose the greatest risks.
Legal notices: comparison table for individuals and legal entities
The French Act to Promote Confidence in the Digital Economy (LCEN) requires every professional website to display identifying information. Since May 2024, these requirements have been set out in Article 1-1 of the LCEN, following the reorganisation introduced by the SREN Act. Websites that still refer to the former Article 6-III are therefore citing an outdated legal basis.
The required information differs depending on whether the publisher is an individual or a legal entity. The table below summarises the differences.
| Information | Individual (sole proprietorship, micro-enterprise) | Legal entity (SAS, SARL, SA, etc.) |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | First and last name, plus the words “individual entrepreneur” or the initials “EI” | Company name, legal form, share capital |
| Contact details | Registered address, email, telephone | Registered office address, email, telephone |
| Registration | RCS number (commercial activity) or RM number (craft activity) | RCS or RM number, depending on the activity |
| VAT | Intra-Community VAT number, if VAT-registered | Intra-Community VAT number |
| Publication director | Name of the person responsible | Name of the publication director |
| Hosting provider | Name, company name, address and telephone | Name, company name, address and telephone |
The main difference concerns identity: a legal entity must state its legal form and share capital, whereas an individual only needs to provide their personal details. Hosting provider details are the same in both cases, and omitting them is the most common oversight on newer websites.
For a practical example of compliance, the legal notices on the Mirage D’Intérieur website follow this structure, including the hosting provider’s contact details and the publisher’s identifying information.
Regulated activities and specific legal notices
The table above covers the general requirements. Some activities involve additional obligations that many websites overlook.
Regulated professions
A regulated professional (lawyer, architect, chartered accountant or real estate agent) must state which authority issued their licence to practise, the applicable professional rules, and their professional title and the country in which it was awarded. A real estate agent must also provide their professional licence number and the name of the chamber of commerce that issued it.
E-commerce websites
An online store selling to consumers must display the following in addition to the general legal notices:
- Terms and conditions of sale (CGV), including payment, delivery, withdrawal and refund terms
- The company’s individual registration number in the producers’ register if it places products covered by an extended producer responsibility scheme on the market (packaging, electrical equipment)
- Details of the relevant consumer mediator, with a link to the European online dispute resolution platform
Please note: from 19 June 2026, online retailers will have to provide an online feature for exercising the right of withdrawal. This mechanism is part of the sales journey, not the legal notices page, but failure to provide it may be penalised.
GDPR and cookies: requirements not covered by the LCEN
Legal notices under the LCEN do not address the collection of personal data. This is governed by the GDPR and CNIL guidance, but both topics must be covered on the website.
The privacy policy is a separate document from the legal notices. It must specify the purposes of each data processing activity, the legal basis relied on (consent, legitimate interest or performance of a contract), the recipients of the data, the retention period and individuals’ rights (access, rectification, erasure and portability).
For cookies, compliance involves more than the text displayed in the banner. Trackers that require consent must not be placed before the visitor has agreed. Refusing must be as easy as accepting, and visitors must be able to change their choice at any time. This distinction between the information displayed and the website’s actual technical behaviour is a key point the CNIL checks during audits.
Penalties for missing or incomplete legal notices
Penalties under the LCEN differ depending on the publisher’s status. For an individual, failure to provide legal notices is punishable by one year in prison and a €75,000 fine. For a legal entity, the fine can reach €375,000.
These amounts apply to a complete absence of legal notices or the deliberate omission of identifying information. In practice, most formal notices concern partial omissions: missing hosting provider details, no VAT number, or no identified publication director.
- Failure to provide a privacy policy falls under the GDPR: the CNIL can impose fines of up to 4% of annual worldwide turnover
- Non-compliant cookie banners (trackers placed before consent, or refusal made more difficult than acceptance) are subject to regular CNIL checks
- Failure to meet pre-contractual information requirements on an e-commerce website falls under the French Consumer Code and may result in separate administrative fines
Bringing a website into compliance starts with auditing the existing page and comparing each row of the initial table with the information actually published. The riskiest omissions are not always the most visible: a missing hosting provider number may go unnoticed by visitors, but not during an inspection. Checking that the page cites the correct legal provision (Article 1-1 of the LCEN since May 2024, rather than Article 6-III) also shows that it has been reviewed recently.
