NEW YORK TIMES: It’s time to fix the small print
Reforms to terms of service agreements would help reset the balance of power between consumers and Big Tech
27 January 2021 - 13:57
Apple prohibits using its iTunes service for the manufacture of nuclear or biological weapons. Amazon will permit its cloud computing service to be deployed to help combat a zombie apocalypse that could “result in the fall of organised civilisation”.
Those clauses are in jest, buried deep in the tech giants’ online terms of service, but they highlight how most people have no idea what is signed away when they click “agree” to binding terms of service contracts. Agreeing often means allowing personal data to be resold or waiving the right to sue or join a class-action lawsuit...
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