Running an e-commerce business involves far more than selecting products and setting up a checkout flow. Every online store operating in the United States has legal obligations that govern how it collects customer data, advertises products, handles email marketing, and designs its website. Ignoring these obligations — even unintentionally — can result in regulatory fines, private lawsuits, and platform suspensions. Whether you are launching your first online store or scaling an established brand, understanding which laws apply to your business is not optional. Here are five categories of law every e-commerce business needs to take seriously.

1. Data Privacy Laws

Nearly every e-commerce store collects personal information — names, email addresses, payment details, shipping addresses, and browsing behavior. That data collection triggers obligations under state and federal privacy laws, and potentially international ones as well.

California’s Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), is the most significant U.S. state privacy law. It applies to for-profit businesses that collect California residents’ personal information and meet at least one of three thresholds: annual gross revenue exceeding $25 million, annual purchase, sale, or receipt of 100,000 or more consumers’ personal information, or deriving 50% or more of annual revenue from selling personal information. Covered businesses must provide a privacy policy disclosing their data practices, offer consumers the right to know what data is collected, the right to delete it, and the right to opt out of its sale or sharing.

Similar laws have passed in Virginia (VCDPA), Colorado (CPA), Connecticut (CTDPA), Texas, Oregon, and more than a dozen other states as of 2025. If your store sells nationally, you may have obligations in multiple states simultaneously, and the requirements vary.

If your store reaches customers in the European Union or United Kingdom, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and UK GDPR may also apply — regardless of where your business is incorporated. GDPR requires a lawful basis for processing personal data, explicit consent for certain uses, and the ability to honor individual rights including data access, correction, and erasure requests.

At minimum, every e-commerce business should maintain a current, accurate privacy policy; disclose what cookies and tracking technologies it uses; and have a mechanism for users to exercise their privacy rights.

2. Intellectual Property Laws

Your brand is a legal asset — and so is the intellectual property of every other business you interact with. E-commerce businesses face IP exposure from two directions: protecting their own assets and avoiding infringement of others’.

On the protection side, your brand name and logo may be eligible for federal trademark registration under 15 U.S.C. § 1051, which provides nationwide priority and the ability to sue infringers in federal court and seek enhanced damages. Your product descriptions, photography, and website copy are protected by copyright under 17 U.S.C. § 102 as soon as they are created, but registration with the U.S. Copyright Office unlocks the ability to sue and to seek statutory damages up to $150,000 per work for willful infringement.

On the infringement risk side, common mistakes include using copyrighted product images without a license, selling counterfeit or replica goods (which can trigger Lanham Act liability and criminal exposure under 18 U.S.C. § 2320), using a brand name that is confusingly similar to a registered trademark, and using third-party brand names in paid search advertising in ways that may constitute trademark use. Brand owners actively monitor online marketplaces, and a cease-and-desist letter can arrive with little warning. Learn more about how our intellectual property attorneys help e-commerce businesses manage these risks.

3. Consumer Protection and Truth in Advertising Laws

The Federal Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. § 45, prohibits unfair or deceptive acts or practices in commerce. This applies to online sellers and encompasses a broad range of conduct: misleading product descriptions, fake or manipulated reviews, countdown timers that reset to manufacture urgency, subscription plans that are difficult to cancel, and health or efficacy claims that are not substantiated by evidence.

The FTC’s Endorsement Guides require that material connections between sellers and reviewers — including paid influencers, affiliate relationships, and product gifting — be clearly and conspicuously disclosed. This applies to social media posts, blog reviews, and any other promotional content where there is a business relationship between the seller and the person promoting the product.

State consumer protection statutes add another layer. California’s Consumer Legal Remedies Act and Unfair Competition Law, for example, allow private plaintiffs to sue for deceptive practices and in some cases recover attorney’s fees. Class action exposure exists when a deceptive practice is systematic — affecting large numbers of customers in the same way.

4. Email and Marketing Laws

Email is among the most effective marketing channels for e-commerce businesses, but sending commercial email without following the rules creates regulatory exposure. The CAN-SPAM Act, 15 U.S.C. § 7701 et seq., applies to all commercial email sent to U.S. recipients and requires that messages:

• Accurately identify the sender in the “From,” “To,” and routing information
• Use subject lines that are not deceptive about the email’s content
• Be identified as an advertisement in certain contexts
• Include the sender’s valid physical postal address
• Include a clear and conspicuous opt-out mechanism
• Honor opt-out requests within 10 business days

If you reach customers in the EU or Canada, additional requirements apply. Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) requires express or implied consent before sending commercial electronic messages to Canadian recipients and is enforced with substantial penalties. GDPR requires a lawful basis — typically freely given, specific, informed, and unambiguous consent — for sending marketing emails to EU residents.

Text message marketing through SMS or MMS is governed by the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), 47 U.S.C. § 227, which requires prior express written consent before sending automated marketing texts and provides for statutory damages of $500 to $1,500 per message in private litigation. TCPA class actions against e-commerce businesses that mishandle SMS opt-ins are common and expensive.

5. Website Accessibility and Child Privacy Laws

Two distinct legal frameworks are worth addressing together because they are often overlooked by e-commerce businesses until a demand letter arrives.

ADA website accessibility. Federal courts have increasingly held that commercial websites are places of public accommodation under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12182. Accessibility lawsuits against e-commerce businesses — alleging that checkout flows, product pages, and navigation are inaccessible to screen readers, keyboard-only users, or individuals with visual impairments — number in the thousands annually. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA standard is widely treated as the compliance benchmark. Common deficiencies include missing alt text on images, insufficient color contrast, inaccessible form labels, and video content without captions.

COPPA compliance. The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, 15 U.S.C. § 6501 et seq., and its implementing regulations at 16 C.F.R. Part 312 prohibit collecting personal information from children under 13 without verifiable parental consent. COPPA applies if your site is directed to children or if you have actual knowledge you are collecting data from children. Even adult-facing sites that lack age-screening mechanisms can face COPPA exposure if their product categories or marketing attract minors. The FTC enforces COPPA and has imposed multi-million dollar penalties on companies that collect children’s data without authorization.

Building a Compliance Foundation for Your E-Commerce Business

The good news is that proactive compliance across all five areas is manageable with the right guidance. A current privacy policy, accurate advertising practices, proper email opt-in mechanics, an accessible website, and an IP clearance process will address the majority of common legal risks e-commerce businesses face. An attorney experienced in e-commerce and internet law can help you audit your current practices and identify gaps before a regulator or opposing counsel does.

Contact the E-Commerce and Compliance Attorneys at Revision Legal

For more information, contact the experienced e-commerce and compliance attorneys at Revision Legal. We work with online sellers, DTC brands, and digital businesses to navigate the legal requirements of operating online. You can reach us through the form on this page or by calling (855) 473-8474.