A Lot of Contracts, Log-Ons, and Subscriptions Have Sneaky Content
Buyer Beware
It is an old truism that when entering into a contract or any sort of transaction, the guiding principle for the person making the purchase is “buyer beware.” The individual has a responsibility to understand what is being offered (and not offered) in any transaction and to act with that knowledge in hand.As we all know, that is often a hard standard to meet in the real world. Such documents increasingly have a mountain of legalese, usually presented in very long paragraphs written in small fonts. Sometimes it feels more like trying to read the Rosetta stone than a simple document.
I have noted what seems to be an increase in this sort of documentation of late. I expect others have noted the same, but most are clueless, as they don’t bother to read through any of these documents. Here are three examples, one each in the places where one normally encounters such language, that illustrate the point.
One, I received a contract for an international cruise. The basic invoice was straightforward – two pages of well-spaced and clearly organized data, mostly consisting of costs. The contract that came with it was 28 pages of smaller fonts, longer paragraphs, and obtuse wording. Unlike most folks, I printed off that contract and took a couple of days reading through it.
Two, I considered downloading some new software. TikTok has become so popular and is so much in the news these days, given a possible federal ban owing to its ties to the Chinese government, I thought it might be interesting to learn about and use. Until I learned what information they gather when you use it.
Three, I received a couple of email notices from programs I am a part of or subscribe to for various uses. The notices were along the lines of “we’ve made a few updates to our privacy and use parameters. You do not need to do anything, here is a short summary, you may read all the changes at the following link if you so wish.” Most people, of course, do not hit that link. I do, just about always.
I bet most of you have personally experienced something like all three of these three examples in your own life.
Where to Look and What You May Find
Actual Contracts: Take some time to actually read the contracts that you are about to bound to by your signature or just your acquiescence. The travel contract mentioned above has three elements I increasingly see:
(1) The cruise line has no responsibility for anything that happens to you off the ship, including the tours they run that you buy from them.
(2) By purchasing the cruise, you agree not to sue them individually nor in a class action suit.
(3) You agree that any disputes will be resolved by binding arbitration (and they select the arbitrators; you generally don’t even get a vote).
This is actually pretty common language in such contracts.
The Apple Apps Store: This is a really valuable resource, even if you are not an Apple user. When considering purchasing a piece of software, look it up in the Apple Applications Store for mobile or desktop. There you will find a detailed breakout of what information a particular application gathers when you use it, including what is generic and what is specifically personal.
The reality is that once an application is part of your computing environment, it could possible gather still more data that might be unprotected on your computer, but at least this initial breakout gives you a good feel for just how exposed you may be. An up front policy of minimizing this risk is one reason I switched to Apple years ago. I mentioned TikTok earlier; take a look at what they gather about you right up front:
And it still doesn’t say what they would do with such data or who they would sell it to for whatever purpose desired.
“We Use Cookies:” Sometimes when you are going to a site online for the first time, you will see a popup note that says they use cookies and you can see what is collected, etc. The requirement to tell you this is fairly new. When the notices first started appearing, people often checked the list and approved or eliminated some of that list. People have gotten a bit lazy since those early days and often to not check the list. We should make the check.
Some functions are essential – approve that or do not go further. Cookies can help your computing experience go much better. But many cookies are for marketing or selling to data gathers. Take a couple of minutes to cancel those out. If something on the list will not cancel but makes you nervous, cancel the contact and move on to an alternative site or just pass on the whole experience. .
How-To Geek, a very good website on consumer technology just this past weekend published a short and very informative article on cookies and how best to manage them. Check it out:
Is There a Trend in All This?
I think so. More than one trend, actually.
There is a trend to eliminate your options to sue if harmed, and to force arbitration, done by a firm or individual that you did not choose and may have no option to reject. This has long been in evidence but seems to me to be ever more present, often buried in long contracts. Similarly, general contracts seem to be getting ever longer and more obscure (check out medical sites for some of the worst). And we have all gotten more lax about checking out cookies before agreeing to have them present.
It is true that in many cases, you have few options. You accept these things or forego the service or other transaction you began. It may well be that you decide to accept some of these because you want to the transaction to continue. It is often not possible to do much as an individual. But sometimes you can do something, whether ii is to decline a transaction or to seek outside help (as in seeking government regulation to more favor the consumer).
In any case, we should know what we are signing up for, rather than just playing along blindly.
A Little Congressional Help Please
The topic of these things comes up in public discourse from time to time. Some companies, like Apple, make some effort to protect and inform you at least to some degree. But the real solution would be specific legislation regulating such things that are forced on the consumer.You can bet a lot of lobbying money goes into ensuring no helpful legislation sees the light of day.
Certainly in the incoming administration and the 119th Congress are unlikely to offer any help. But it is worth keeping the issue alive for a better day, when someone like Senator Elizabeth Warren could make it happen.
In the meantime, read the fine print.
See you next week.
Bill Clontz
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Let’s grow our circle.
Painfully true on all fronts. I would add three comments.
My son teaches computer science, his area of focus is security, and his observation on online interaction is “If you can’t tell what they’re selling, then it’s YOU.”.
Only marginally related, though pertinent to the general online community, The New York Times issued this news brief today: “Meta Moves to End Fact-Checking Program. Meta said it would stop using fact checkers and instead rely on Facebook and Instagram users to add notes or corrections to posts. The move is likely to please the Trump administration.”
Finally, on the matter of Congressional help and related to the item above: FAT CHANCE.