Top 8 Legal Issues to Consider in your Mobile App Development in 2021

5 min readSep 13, 2021

When you want to have a finished application as a product owner, you need to be concerned with issues such as business concept, value application, and development cycle.

Like any other business process, development requires compliance with the law. All aspects must be foreseen before starting work on the application. We will tell you what exactly should be taken into account.

Key Legal Issues and How To Avoid Them in Mobile App Development

Mobile development comes into contact with a number of legal factors that are important to foresee and comply with. Next, we will look at each factor separately.

Legal Consideration #1. Confidentiality agreements

The most popular data protection option is the Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA). Usually, NDAs stipulate non-disclosure of information about a specific product and also restrict the information that people involved in the project can transmit.

Among the issues that the NDA solves:

protection of information presented at the development stage, for example, source code or business strategy;
data protection when working with outsourcing or with developers who have previously run competitors’ projects;
preservation of trade secrets.

Legal Consideration #2. Intellectual property rights

The concept of intellectual property applies to all the work that has been done in the process. The company needs to register all originally created elements as patents, copyrights, or trademarks:

Patent protection covers some of the methods, processes, and products that have been applied in the development of applications.
Copyright protects your application’s source code, artwork or writing, and design.
Trademarks indicate the source of origin of goods or services, including the logo, slogan, and brand name. So, make sure that you know how to register an app name and how to make sure no one steals your idea.

Legal Consideration #3. Jurisdiction

This issue is especially important for applications that are planning to be released abroad. A specialist in legal technical services will help you in consulting. Your product must comply with the laws of the countries where you operate.

Legal Consideration #4. Incorporate a business

Your business must be legally formalized. Among the design options: a limited liability company, a partnership agreement, an individual entrepreneur. The optimal solution is considered to be an LLC, which not only protects assets in case of problems but limits liability.

Legal Consideration #5. App Store Agreements

Placing an application in the store has a number of requirements that should be taken into account. Google and Apple have different terms, so take a close look at the platform rules. In the event of a discrepancy or violation of the rules, your product may be removed from the store or even receive a legal claim.

Legal Consideration #6. Terms of use

Mobile app terms of use are a legal agreement between developers and users. It manifests itself automatically from the moment you download the application. And it is these conditions that govern the rules of work and all ethical and legal aspects.

Legal Consideration #7. Privacy Policy

Here it is important to clearly and understandably explain to the user what information will be collected, how it will be processed, and how it will be protected.

Some of the most effective privacy practices include:

the beginning of its action from the moment of the start of development;
transparency of wording;
ensuring privacy from the moment you download the application.

Legal Consideration #8. End-User License Agreement (EULA)

It is important to indicate here all permitted and prohibited ways of using the application. The user must necessarily agree with him, this will give the license agreement legal force. To do this, add the “I Accept” button.

So, How to Actually Protect Your Mobile Application?

Since any application is an intellectual property that interacts with user data, it is important to provide all of the above.

To do this, you should take the following steps:

Protecting Written Code

If you are developing an application from scratch, all code is your intellectual property. If you get the code from open source, you must go through licensing. Also, be sure to obtain a copyright app for the code if there are multiple developers working on the project.

Protect all value

Not only the code is an app intellectual property, but also your idea, and even the logo. So, how to protect your idea for an app? In order to avoid problems, it is necessary not only to register the copyright but also to patent the application and beware of how to trademark an app.

Minimize your risks

Even if you are a developer or business owner, you should think like a lawyer about an application. Each step and action of the client must be protected and comply with the legal framework of the country where it is represented. Write down all the conditions in detail and transparently, so that even in the case of legal proceedings, there is something to appeal to.

Put yourself in the user’s shoes

It should be as clear as possible how to use your application and what you can and cannot do with it. Make sure all terms are complete and that if updated, the user will be alerted.

What Legal Guarantees Do TopDevs Provide?

At TopDevs, we prioritize protecting our customers’ privacy. All our developers are aware of the legal side of the process and make decisions based on them.

Among the steps we take to ensure the safety of our customers and users:

TopDevs has a Privacy Policy that explains in detail to customers and users how personal data is collected and processed.
We transparently describe all methods of collecting, using, and ensuring the protection of personal information.
We are obliged to sign up for the app development contract with customers for product development. This document also states the terms of work, property rights, payment procedures, and so on.
TopDevs experts strongly recommend that customers sign a non-disclosure agreement before discussing the idea of the application.

All applications in our portfolio are legal.

Summary

A legal app is important to both parties, which is why TopDevs always pays great attention to this. Reliable protection of the code from competitors and user data is the key to long-term cooperation.

Risk minimization should be addressed first. Reputational risks, security of personal data, and many other aspects must be taken into account at the early stages of the development of the application via a mobile application development agreement