When you first begin to use a website or internet service or software product, you often have to review and submit to some kind of agreement. A 42-page legalese document in 6-pt font appears out of nowhere, to block your way as if it were a bouncer at the club. I’m sure most of you know what I’m referring to, and I am also fairly certain that you didn’t read any of those “Terms of Service”.
I am not throwing shade. I do the same as you! No one has the time/patience/bandwidth to comprehend those monstrous word-stains. We all just scroll to them bottom, and click the big button to proceed, and do the thing, and move on with our lives. Because TL;DR!
But here’s the problem: Clicking through those Terms of Service means you’ve agreed to something, in a legally binding way. You are now bound by some contract that you know nothing about. Have you waived your rights to something? Did you grant a corporation the right to use your info or likeness? Have you promised your firstborn to The Fae?
There is no solution to this widespread, problematic practice. But I do have a great resource to share: the Terms of Service, Didn’t Read website. A group of smart and caring people run this website to review various internet-based services and summarize their ToS for you in short, digestible lists.
Use this website to look up whatever tech company you want, and ToS;DR will probably have a short bulleted list of the Pros and Cons to using that service. Does XYZ Company respect your privacy, or are they selling your PII to the highest bidder? Even if you’ve already signed on the dotted line, it might be nice to know…
ToS; DR also has free apps for your mobile devices and browser extensions, to make their info easier to use.