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There is a browser add-on which summarizes terms of service warnings for web sites requiring an all-or-nothing click-through to use their services. The add-on tosdr uses crowd-sourcing to digest scores of pages into short, concise sentences or paragraphs warning what is hidden behind excessively verbose legalese. The database has been around for years but has recently been converted into a wiki.
What if, before you consented, you could at least read the SparkNotes? That's the goal of ToSDR—short for Terms of Service; Didn't Read—a website that turns lengthy terms of service agreements into bulleted summaries, and then rates those terms from Class A (very good) to Class F (very bad). It functions as a sort of Wikipedia for terms of service agreements. Anyone can submit a bullet point and share their analysis of a service's terms, which get turned into a rating of a site's overall policy. The site, which has existed since 2012 but is relaunching next month on a new platform, hopes to create a broad network of shared knowledge.
Unlike written contracts where it is easy to cross out offending paragraphs and clauses before both parties sign, these online forms are all-or-nothing. In some of the sites with larger network effects, such as Facebook, it might be that such a forced agreement could be construed as extortion.
Sources:
Wired: Welcome to the Wikipedia for Terms of Service Agreements
Boing Boing: Terms of Service; Didn't Read: a browser add-on that warns you about the terrible fine-print you're about to "agree" to
(Score: 5, Insightful) by bzipitidoo on Thursday April 19 2018, @05:03PM (4 children)
I don't bother reading EULAs and Terms of Service. Why should anyone? Most people have figured out they're a load of bull, full of untrue assertions and lying propaganda about the rights they claim to have and you don't, and deliberately obfuscated and lengthened in order to confuse and discourage anyone who does try to read it. Use a fake name, if a name is required, and get on with life.
Be nice to see ToS's really cleaned up. However, this browser add-on sounds like the wrong direction. Prefer seeing the courts or the legislature put an end to this aggravating custom by smacking down the companies and lawyers who practice it.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Chromium_One on Thursday April 19 2018, @05:18PM (2 children)
Efforts like this one can be a wedge towards fixing an issue, but in this case I suspect it'll be ineffective. Still worth trying until something better comes along. Definitely needs more contributors though. As of yesterday, the number of sites rated was laughably small.
When you live in a sick society, everything you do is wrong.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 19 2018, @08:05PM (1 child)
Just the opposite, I think. Right now, the TOS is so long and complicated that most judges rule it unreasonable to hold a person to it. That is, it is not reasonable to expect a person to fully read and fully understand a 200+ page document written by lawyers for lawyers. If the TOS gets too simplified then we might well be expected to understand and comply with it.
(Score: 1) by Chromium_One on Thursday April 19 2018, @08:51PM
I don't believe that would be universally bad, more of a mixed bag. In theory, users would have a better idea of expectations. Overly abusive ToS elements should get winnowed out over time, though it seems debatable to me which abusive behaviors would get groused about, litigated, or ignored.
When you live in a sick society, everything you do is wrong.
(Score: 2) by corey on Thursday April 19 2018, @10:11PM
On Australia, and other countries presumably, the consumer protection laws trump anything in Eula's or tps:s.