When launching a blog or an online store focused on parenting, the first thing that comes to mind is the content: articles on baby sleep, stroller comparisons, breastfeeding tips. The legal notice page often comes last, hastily written or copied from another site.
This is a mistake that can be costly. The legal notices of a site dedicated to parenting follow the same rules as any professional site, but the nature of the data collected (children’s ages, health, family situation) requires additional precautions.
Sensitive data about children: what the law requires additionally
A parenting site is not an ordinary showcase site. Registration forms, community spaces, or quizzes (“what type of parent are you?”) often collect information related to minors. Age, first names, developmental milestones, sometimes even photos.
The CNIL considers minors to be a more vulnerable audience. It pays particular attention to the collection of children’s data. Specifically, your legal notices and privacy policy must go beyond standard text.
- Specify the exact purpose of each collection: why do you ask for the child’s date of birth? To personalize content? To send a targeted newsletter?
- Indicate the legal basis for processing: explicit consent from the parent, legitimate interest, or performance of a contract.
- Detail the recipients of the data: your host, an emailing service provider, an advertising agency?
- Mention the retention period and the rights of users (access, rectification, deletion, opposition).
A site that offers week-by-week pregnancy tracking and stores health data without properly declaring it is exposed to sanctions. The CNIL continued to impose fines in 2025, including against web actors, for failures related to consent and information of individuals.
Consulting the legal notices of 123 Baby Boom! provides a concrete overview of how a site specialized in the baby universe structures these obligations.
Mandatory legal notices: the concrete list for a parenting site
Whether you are a self-employed individual running a parenting blog or a company publishing a family app, the law for confidence in the digital economy (LCEN) imposes a common foundation. Here’s what must appear on your dedicated page.
Identification of the publisher
For an individual: name, first name, home address, email address, and phone number. For a legal entity: company name, legal form, and share capital, registered office address, email, and phone. The registration number with the RCS or the Siren number must also appear, as well as the VAT identification number if you are subject to it.
Identification of the host
Name or company name, address, and phone number of the company that hosts your site. Many parenting blogs use shared hosting without even knowing these details. Check them in your client area.
Regulated activity
If your site sells childcare products subject to specific standards or offers consultations (parenting coaching, perinatal support), mention the authority that issued the authorization and the applicable professional rules.
Cookies and parenting newsletters: two common pitfalls
You’ve probably noticed those cookie banners that appear on all websites? For a parenting site, managing consent for cookies goes beyond a simple decorative banner.
Cookie consent
Every cookie that is not strictly necessary for the functioning of the site (analytics, advertising, social networks) requires free, specific, and informed consent before being placed. Pre-checked boxes are prohibited. The user must be able to refuse as easily as they can accept.
The CNIL actively penalizes failures in this area. A parenting blog that integrates advertising trackers without a compliant banner takes a real risk, even with modest traffic.
Newsletter and commercial prospecting
Offering a weekly newsletter on child development is common in the parenting world. If this newsletter contains commercial prospecting (affiliate links, partner promotions), prior consent is required.
The registration form must distinguish between editorial information and promotional content. Your privacy policy specifies the purpose of collecting emails, and each sending must contain a functional unsubscribe link.
Intellectual property and content shared by parents
Parenting sites often encourage contributions: testimonials, family photos, birth stories. This user-generated content raises an intellectual property question that your legal notices must anticipate.
For the images and illustrations you publish yourself, indicate their intellectual property in your notices. If you use royalty-free photos, specify the source. For texts taken from other authors, obtain permission or cite the source.
When a parent shares a photo of their child on your forum or in a comment, you partially become responsible for that content as a publisher. Your terms of use (distinct from the legal notices but complementary) must specify the rights granted, moderation conditions, and the withdrawal procedure.
A final often overlooked point: the right to the image of minors. Even if a parent voluntarily publishes a photo of their child, the publisher’s liability may be engaged in case of uncontrolled dissemination. Include a clear clause on this topic in your general conditions.
A well-designed parenting site does not simply check legal boxes. Transparency about data usage, respect for consent, and protection of content related to children build the trust of the families who read you. This is also what distinguishes a sustainable project from a fleeting blog.
