TOS terms of service
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</font></div><div><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Terms of service</b> (also known as <b>terms of use</b> and <b>terms and conditions</b>, commonly abbreviated as <b>TOS</b> or <b>ToS</b>, <b>ToU</b> or <b>T&C</b>) are rules by which one must agree to abide in order to use a service.<sup id="cite_ref-AOLd_1-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_service#cite_note-AOLd-1" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[1]</a></sup> Terms of service can also be merely a disclaimer, especially regarding the use of websites.</font></p><div id="toc" class="toc" style="border: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); background-color: rgb(248, 249, 250); padding: 7px; display: table; zoom: 1;"><input type="checkbox" role="button" id="toctogglecheckbox" class="toctogglecheckbox" style="direction: ltr; position: absolute; opacity: 0; z-index: -1; display: none;" /><div class="toctitle" lang="en" dir="ltr" style="direction: ltr; text-align: center;">
</div><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-type: none; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_service#Usage" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">1</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Usage</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_service#Content" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">2</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Content</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_service#Readability" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">3</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Readability</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-4" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_service#Public_awareness" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">4</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Public awareness</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-5" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_service#Criticism_and_lawsuits" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">5</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Criticism and lawsuits</span></font></a><ul style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-type: none; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-6" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_service#AOL" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">5.1</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">AOL</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-7" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_service#Sony" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">5.2</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Sony</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-8" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_service#Instagram" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">5.3</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Instagram</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-9" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_service#Zappos" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">5.4</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Zappos</span></font></a></li></ul></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-10" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_service#See_also" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">6</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">See also</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-11" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_service#References" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">7</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">References</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-12" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_service#External_links" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">8</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">External links</span></font></a></li></ul></div><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Usage">Usage</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="user-select: none; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; white-space: nowrap; unicode-bidi: isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-right: 0.25em;">[</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Terms_of_service&action=edit§ion=1" title="Edit section: Usage" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-left: 0.25em;">]</span></span></font></h2><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Terms of Service Agreement is mainly used for legal purposes by companies which provide software or services, such as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_browser" title="Web browser" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">web browsers</a>, e-commerce, web search engines, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media" title="Social media" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">social media</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport" title="Transport" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">transport</a> services.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A legitimate terms-of-service agreement is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contract" title="Contract" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">legally binding</a> and may be subject to change.<sup id="cite_ref-Terms_of_service_Definition_from_PC_Magazine_Encyclopedia_2-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_service#cite_note-Terms_of_service_Definition_from_PC_Magazine_Encyclopedia-2" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[2]</a></sup> Companies can enforce the terms by refusing service. Customers can enforce by filing a suit or arbitration case if they can show they were actually harmed by a breach of the terms. There is a heightened risk of data going astray during corporate changes, including mergers, divestitures, buyouts, downsizing, etc., when data can be transferred improperly.<sup id="cite_ref-legaltech_3-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_service#cite_note-legaltech-3" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[3]</a></sup></font></p><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span class="mw-headline" id="Content" style="">Content</span></font></h2><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A terms of service agreement typically contains sections pertaining to one or more of the following topics:</font></p><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url("data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 width=%225%22 height=%2213%22%3E %3Ccircle cx=%222.5%22 cy=%229.5%22 r=%222.5%22 fill=%22%2300528c%22/%3E %3C/svg%3E"); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Disambiguation/definition of key words and phrases</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">User rights and responsibilities</font><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-type: disc; list-style-image: url("data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 width=%225%22 height=%2213%22%3E %3Ccircle cx=%222.5%22 cy=%229.5%22 r=%222.5%22 fill=%22%2300528c%22/%3E %3C/svg%3E");"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Proper or expected usage; definition of misuse</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Accountability for online actions, behavior, and conduct</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privacy_policy" title="Privacy policy" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Privacy policy</a> outlining the use of personal data</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Payment details such as membership or subscription fees, etc.</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opt-out" title="Opt-out" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Opt-out</a> policy describing procedure for account termination, if available</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arbitration" title="Arbitration" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Arbitration</a> detailing the dispute resolution process and limited rights to take a claim to court</font></li></ul></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Disclaimer/Limitation of Liability clarifying the site's legal liability for damages incurred by users</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">User notification upon modification of terms, if offered</font></li></ul><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Among 102 companies marketing genetic testing to consumers in 2014 for health purposes, 71 had publicly available terms and conditions,<sup id="cite_ref-phillips_4-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_service#cite_note-phillips-4" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[4]</a></sup></font></p><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url("data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 width=%225%22 height=%2213%22%3E %3Ccircle cx=%222.5%22 cy=%229.5%22 r=%222.5%22 fill=%22%2300528c%22/%3E %3C/svg%3E"); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">57 of the 71 had disclaimer clauses (including 10 disclaiming liability for injury caused by their own negligence),</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">51 let the company change terms (including 17 without notice), *34 allow data disclosure in certain circumstances,</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">31 require consumers to indemnify the company,</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">20 promise not to sell data.</font></li></ul><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Among 260 mass market consumer software license agreements in 2010,<sup id="cite_ref-w2010_5-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_service#cite_note-w2010-5" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[5]</a></sup></font></p><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url("data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 width=%225%22 height=%2213%22%3E %3Ccircle cx=%222.5%22 cy=%229.5%22 r=%222.5%22 fill=%22%2300528c%22/%3E %3C/svg%3E"); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">91% disclaimed warranties of merchantability or fitness for purpose or said it was "As is"</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">92% disclaimed consequential, incidental, special or forseeable damages</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">69% did not warrant the software was free of defects or would work as described in the manual</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">55% capped damages at the purchase price or less</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">36% said they were not warranting whether it infringed others' intellectual property rights</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">32% required arbitration or a specific court</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">17% required the customer to pay legal bills of the maker (indemnify), but not vice versa</font></li></ul><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Among terms and conditions of 31 cloud-computing services in January-July 2010, operating in England,<sup id="cite_ref-qmul2_6-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_service#cite_note-qmul2-6" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[6]</a></sup></font></p><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url("data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 width=%225%22 height=%2213%22%3E %3Ccircle cx=%222.5%22 cy=%229.5%22 r=%222.5%22 fill=%22%2300528c%22/%3E %3C/svg%3E"); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">27 specified the law to be used (a US state or other country),</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">most specify that consumers can claim against the company only in a particular city in that jurisdiction, though often the company can claim against the consumer anywhere,</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">some require claims to be brought within half a year to 2 years,</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">7 impose arbitration, all forbid illegal and objectionable conduct by the consumer,</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">13 can amend terms just by posting changes on their own website,</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">a majority disclaim responsibility for confidentiality or backups,</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">most promise to preserve data only briefly after terminating service,</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">few promise to delete data thoroughly when the customer leaves,</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">some monitor the customers' data to enforce their policies on use,</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">all disclaim warranties and almost all disclaim liability,</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">24 require the customer to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indemnity" title="Indemnity" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">indemnify</a> them, a few indemnify the customer,</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">a few give credits for poor service, 15 promise "best efforts" and can suspend or stop any time.</font></li></ul><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The researchers note that rules on location and time limits may be unenforceable for consumers in many jurisdictions with consumer protections, that acceptable use policies are rarely enforced, that quick deletion is dangerous if a court later rules the termination wrongful, that local laws often require warranties (and UK forced Apple to say so).</font></p><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Readability">Readability</span></font></h2><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Among the 500 most-visited websites which use sign-in-wrap agreements in September 2018,<sup id="cite_ref-becher_7-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_service#cite_note-becher-7" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[7]</a></sup></font></p><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url("data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 width=%225%22 height=%2213%22%3E %3Ccircle cx=%222.5%22 cy=%229.5%22 r=%222.5%22 fill=%22%2300528c%22/%3E %3C/svg%3E"); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">70% of agreements had average sentence lengths over 25 words, (where 25 or less is needed for consumer readability)</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">median FRE (Flesch Reading Ease) score was 34 (where over 60 is considered readable by consumers)</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">median F-K (Flesch-Kincaid) score was 15 years of school (498 of 500 had scores higher than the recommended 8th grade)</font></li></ul><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Among 260 mass market consumer software license agreements which existed in both 2003 and 2010,<sup id="cite_ref-w2010_5-1" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_service#cite_note-w2010-5" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[5]</a></sup></font></p><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url("data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 width=%225%22 height=%2213%22%3E %3Ccircle cx=%222.5%22 cy=%229.5%22 r=%222.5%22 fill=%22%2300528c%22/%3E %3C/svg%3E"); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">median and mean Flesch scores were 33 in both years, with a range from 14 to 64 in 2003, and from 15 to 55 in 2010 (where over 60 is considered readable by consumers)</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">median number of words rose from 1,152 to 1,354, with range of 33 to 8,406 in 2003, and from 106 to 13,416 in 2010</font></li></ul><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Public_awareness">Public awareness</span></font></h2><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">A 2013 documentary called <i style=""><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terms_and_Conditions_May_Apply" title="Terms and Conditions May Apply" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">Terms and Conditions May Apply</a></i> publicized issues in terms of service</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">. It was reviewed by 54 professional critics</span><sup id="cite_ref-imdb-c_8-0" class="reference" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_service#cite_note-imdb-c-8" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[8]</a></sup><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> and won for Best Feature Documentary at the Newport Beach Film Festival 2013 and for Best Documentary at the Sonoma Valley Film Festival 2013.</span><sup id="cite_ref-imdb-a_9-0" class="reference" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_service#cite_note-imdb-a-9" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[9]</a></sup></font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Clickwrapped.com</b> rates 15 companies on their policies and practices with respect to using users' data, disclosing users' data, amending the terms, closing users' accounts, requiring arbitration, fining users, and clarity.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b style=""><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_Service;Didn%27t_Read" title="Terms of Service; Didn't Read" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Terms of Service; Didn't Read</a></b> is a group effort that rates 67 companies' terms of service and privacy policies, though its site says the ratings are "outdated".<sup id="cite_ref-tosdr_10-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_service#cite_note-tosdr-10" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[10]</a></sup> It also has browser add-ons that deliver the ratings while at the website of a rated company. Members of the group score each clause in each terms of service document, but "the same clause can have different scores depending on the context of the services it applies to."<sup id="cite_ref-tosdr-t_11-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_service#cite_note-tosdr-t-11" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[11]</a></sup>The <b style="">Services</b> tab lists companies in no apparent order, with brief notes about significant clauses from each company. In particular, competitors are not listed together so that users can compare them. A link gives longer notes. It does not typically link to the exact wording from the company. The <b style="">Topics</b> tab lists topics (like "Personal Data" or "Guarantee"), with brief notes from some companies about aspects of the topic.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b style="">TOSBack.org</b>, supported by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Frontier_Foundation" title="Electronic Frontier Foundation" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Electronic Frontier Foundation</a>, lists changes in terms and policies sequentially, 10 per page, for 160 pages, or nearly 1,600 changes, for "many online services".<sup id="cite_ref-tosback_12-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_service#cite_note-tosback-12" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[12]</a></sup> There does not seem to be a way to find all changes for a particular company, or even which companies were tracked in any time period. It links to Terms of Service; Didn't Read, though that typically does not have any evaluation of the most recent changes listed at TOSBack.org.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Terms of service are subject to change and vary from service to service, so <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_service#External_links" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">several initiatives</a> exist to increase public awareness by clarifying such differences in terms,</b> including:</font></p><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url("data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 width=%225%22 height=%2213%22%3E %3Ccircle cx=%222.5%22 cy=%229.5%22 r=%222.5%22 fill=%22%2300528c%22/%3E %3C/svg%3E"); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Availability of previous terms</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Cancellation or termination of the account and/or service by user</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Copyright licensing on user content</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Data tracking policy and opt-out availability</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indemnity" title="Indemnity" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Indemnification</a> or compensation for claims against account or content</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Notification and feedback prior to changes in Terms</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Notification of government or third-party requests for personal data</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Notification prior to information transfer in event of merger or acquisition</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudonym" title="Pseudonym" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Pseudonym</a> allowance</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Readability" title="Readability" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Readability</font></a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Saved or temporary <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-party_cookie" class="mw-redirect" title="First-party cookie" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">first</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third-party_cookie" class="mw-redirect" title="Third-party cookie" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">third-party cookies</a></font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Transparency of security practices</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Transparency on government or law enforcement requests for content removal</font></li></ul><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span class="mw-headline" id="Criticism_and_lawsuits" style="">Criticism and lawsuits</span></font></h2><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="AOL">AOL</span></font></h3><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In 1994, the <i style="">Washington Times</i> reported that <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America_Online" class="mw-redirect" title="America Online" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">America Online</a> (AOL) was selling detailed personal information about its subscribers to direct marketers, without notifying or asking its subscribers; this article led to the revision of AOL's terms of service three years late</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">r.</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On July 1, 1997, AOL posted revised terms service to take effect July 31, 1997, without formally notifying its users of the changes made, most notably a new policy which would grant third-party business partners, including a marketing firm, access to its members' telephone numbers. Several days before the changes were to take effect, an AOL member informed the media of the changes and the following news coverage incited a large influx of internet traffic on the AOL page which enabled users to opt out of having their names and numbers on marketing lists.<sup id="cite_ref-AOLd_1-1" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_service#cite_note-AOLd-1" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[1]</a></sup></font></p><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Sony">Sony</span></font></h3><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In 2011 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Hotz" title="George Hotz" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">George Hotz</a> and others<sup class="noprint Inline-Template" style="line-height: 1; white-space: nowrap;">[<i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Words_to_watch#Unsupported_attributions" title="Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Words to watch" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><span title="The material near this tag possibly uses too-vague attribution or weasel words. (November 2016)">who?</span></a></i>]</sup> were sued by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony" title="Sony" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Sony</a> Corporation. Sony claimed that by violating the terms of service of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_Network" title="PlayStation Network" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">PlayStation Network</a>, Hotz and others were committing <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breach_of_contract" title="Breach of contract" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">breach of contract</a>.</font></p><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Instagram">Instagram</span></font></h3><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable" style="padding-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="">See also: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instagram#Criticism_and_lawsuits" title="Instagram" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Instagram § Criticism and lawsuits</a></font></div><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">On December 17, 2012, Instagram announced a change to its terms of use that caused a widespread outcry from its user base. The controversial clause stated: <b>"you agree that a business or other entity may pay us to display your username, likeness, photos (along with any associated <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metadata" title="Metadata" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">metadata</a>), and/or actions you take, in connection with paid or sponsored content or promotions, without any compensation to you".</b></font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>There was no apparent option to opt out of the changed terms of use.</b><sup id="cite_ref-13" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_service#cite_note-13" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><b>[</b>13]</a></sup> The move garnered severe criticism from privacy advocates as well as consumers. After one day, Instagram apologized saying that it would remove the controversial language from its terms of use.<sup id="cite_ref-14" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_service#cite_note-14" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[14]</a></sup> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Systrom" title="Kevin Systrom" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Kevin Systrom</a>, a co-founder of Instagram, responded to the controversy, stating,</font></p><blockquote class="templatequote" style="overflow: hidden; margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px 40px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Our intention in updating the terms was to communicate that we’d like to experiment with innovative advertising that feels appropriate on Instagram. Instead it was interpreted by many that we were going to sell your photos to others without any compensation. This is not true and it is our mistake that this language is confusing. To be clear: it is not our intention to sell your photos. We are working on updated language in the terms to make sure this is clear.<sup id="cite_ref-terms-of-use-retraction_15-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_service#cite_note-terms-of-use-retraction-15" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[15]</a></sup></font></p></blockquote><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Zappos">Zappos</span></font></h3><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Some terms of service are worded to allow unilateral amendment, where one party can change the agreement at any time without the other party's consent. </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">A 2012 court case </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_re_Zappos.com,Inc.,Customer_Data_Security_Breach_Litigation" title="In re Zappos.com, Inc., Customer Data Security Breach Litigation" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">In re Zappos.com, Inc., Customer Data Security Breach Litigation</a><i style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </i><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">held that </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zappos.com" class="mw-redirect" title="Zappos.com" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Zappos.com</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">'s terms of use, with one such clause, was unenforceable.</span><sup id="cite_ref-goldman_16-0" class="reference" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_service#cite_note-goldman-16" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[16]</a></sup></font></p><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="See_also">See also</span></font></h2><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url("data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 width=%225%22 height=%2213%22%3E %3Ccircle cx=%222.5%22 cy=%229.5%22 r=%222.5%22 fill=%22%2300528c%22/%3E %3C/svg%3E"); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abandonware" title="Abandonware" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Abandonware</font></a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acceptable_use_policy" title="Acceptable use policy" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Acceptable use policy</font></a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clickwrap" title="Clickwrap" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Clickwrap license</font></a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browse_wrap" title="Browse wrap" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Browse wrap</font></a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/End-user_license_agreement" title="End-user license agreement" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">End-user license agreement</font></a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_software_license" title="Free software license" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Free software license</font></a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Glossary_of_legal_terms_in_technology" class="extiw" title="wikt:Appendix:Glossary of legal terms in technology" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Glossary of legal terms in technology</font></a><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-type: disc; list-style-image: url("data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 width=%225%22 height=%2213%22%3E %3Ccircle cx=%222.5%22 cy=%229.5%22 r=%222.5%22 fill=%22%2300528c%22/%3E %3C/svg%3E");"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_faith(law)" title="Good faith (law)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Good faith (law)</font></a></li></ul></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Index_of_Articles_Relating_to_Terms_of_Service_and_Privacy_Policies" class="mw-redirect" title="Index of Articles Relating to Terms of Service and Privacy Policies" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Index of Articles Relating to Terms of Service and Privacy Policies</font></a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_privacy" title="Internet privacy" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Internet privacy</font></a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/License_manager" title="License manager" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">License manager</font></a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_software_licenses" class="mw-redirect" title="List of software licenses" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">List of software licenses</font></a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privacy_Policy" class="mw-redirect" title="Privacy Policy" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Privacy Policy</font></a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrink_wrap_contract" title="Shrink wrap contract" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Shrink wrap contract</font></a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_Asset_Management" class="mw-redirect" title="Software Asset Management" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Software Asset Management</font></a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_license" title="Software license" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Software license</font></a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_form_contract" title="Standard form contract" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Standard form contract</font></a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terms_and_Conditions_May_Apply(2013_film)" class="mw-redirect" title="Terms and Conditions May Apply (2013 film)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><i>Terms and Conditions May Apply</i> (2013 film)</font></a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_Service;Didn%27t_Read" title="Terms of Service; Didn't Read" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Terms of Service; Didn't Read</font></a></li></ul><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;"><span class="mw-headline" id="References"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Reference</font></span></h2></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">===</font></div>