Save Your Soul. Read the Terms of Service.

Hands up if you’ve ever read the Terms of Service (ToS) when signing up to a social media service, mobile phone contract, or subscription entertainment service? Where can you find the ToS? It’s usually buried “in the weeds”, and even if you did find it, how many of you are willing to read ten thousand-word, undecipherable disclaimers, written in four-point font? It’s no secret a ToS is designed to be impossible to read – so it’s never read. In fact, clicking “I have read and agree to the Terms of Service” is the biggest lie on the web.

A well-known proverb is “ignorance is bliss”. However, this could cost you dearly. It’s important to understand what you’re signing up to, as it may even be detrimental to your soul. Say what? Yes, to demonstrate how absurd a ToS can be, the British retailer GameStation (later rebranded as Game) famously inserted a clause in its ToS on April Fool’s day in 2010 to read:

"By placing an order via this Web site on the first day of the fourth month of the year 2010 Anno Domini, you agree to grant Us a non transferable option to claim, for now and for ever more, your immortal soul. Should We wish to exercise this option, you agree to surrender your immortal soul, and any claim you may have on it, within 5 (five) working days of receiving written notification from gamesation.co.uk or one of its duly authorised minions."

Thousands of online shoppers unknowingly signed up to the ToS when making a purchase, proving that no one reads the online Terms and Conditions of shopping, and companies are free to insert whatever language they want into the documents.

The claims to your soul may be the least of your worries compared to the ethically dubious, but technically legal Terms of Service online Web services use when signing you up. For example, are you comfortable with Web services:

• Tracking your location;
• Using your identity in ads that are shown to other users;
• Using your personal data for targeted third-party advertising;
• Distributing your content through “any media known or in the future”;
• Processing and storing your personal information anywhere in the world;
• Deleting your account without prior notice or any reason;

This is only a sample of what we typically “sign away” when agreeing to a ToS. So, what can you practically do? How about ditching the “ignorance is bliss” mantra and replacing it with “knowledge is power!”. Conduct your own research and gather as much information to assist you make informed decisions. Well-research information leads to knowledge and understanding, which in turn, leads to confident and informed decision-making.

One online resource that may help you decipher the mumbo-jumbo of a ToS is a website called “Terms of Service Didn’t Read” (tosdr.org). This website has gone through the hassle of reviewing the website terms and privacy policies of the most common web services. It summarises the key conditions of each policy, and rates each from Class A (very good) to Class E (very bad). You can even run a search for the Terms of Service on a specific web service you’re intending to sign up to.

I recommend this website and encourage you to invest the time in developing a fundamental understanding on the mysteries of a Terms of Service. What have you got to lose, apart from your most intimate private details? Further, you may even redeem yourself, and save your soul!