Have you ever carefully read the full terms and conditions before clicking that you agree? I don’t think I ever have, until now that is. The apple terms and conditions is probably one of the most overlooked agreements that patrons agree to so I found the “Apple Media Services Terms and Conditions” (http://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/us/terms.html) online and decided to carefully scroll through the page to see what I have been missing out on.
Listed below I have quoted some of the parts of the agreement that stood out to me:
“PAYMENTS, TAXES, AND REFUNDS
All Transactions are final. Content prices may change at any time. If technical problems prevent or unreasonably delay delivery of Content, your exclusive and sole remedy is either replacement of the Content or refund of the price paid, as determined by Apple.”
It is definitely good to know that you are agreeing to your transactions being final when making purchases.
“LICENSED APPLICATION END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT
b. Consent to Use of Data: You agree that Licensor may collect and use technical data and related information — including but not limited to technical information about your device, system and application software, and peripherals — that is gathered periodically to facilitate the provision of software updates, product support, and other services to you (if any) related to the Licensed Application. Licensor may use this information, as long as it is in a form that does not personally identify you, to improve its products or to provide services or technologies to you.”
A part that most people do not read is that the Licensor can collect information about your device, but can not take information that will personally identify you.
“APPLE ID
Apple is not responsible for any losses arising from the unauthorized use of your Apple ID. Please contact Apple if you suspect that your Apple ID has been compromised. You must be age 13 (or equivalent minimum age in your Home Country, as set forth in the registration process) to create an Apple ID and use our Services. Apple IDs for persons under this age can be created by a parent or legal guardian using Family Sharing or by an approved educational institution.”
You must be 13 or older to create your own apple account and if someone uses your apple ID without your knowledge apple does not have to cover any losses.
“PRIVACY
Your use of our Services is subject to Apple’s Privacy Policy, which is available at http://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/.”
Their privacy policy was available in a completely separate document and was accessible through the link provided.
“SERVICES AND CONTENT USAGE RULES
- You can use Content from up to five different Apple IDs on each device.”
This is interesting to know if you want to share with friends and family.
“iTunes Store Content:
You may burn an audio playlist to CD for listening purposes up to seven times (this limitation does not apply to DRM-free Content)”
If you were to burn your audio onto a CD you can legally only make seven copies. Does anyone still burn CDs?
“Apple Music:
- You can use an Individual Apple Music membership on up to 10 devices (only five of which can be computers).”
Even without the family Apple Music membership you can use it on up to 10 devices.
“E. RECOMMENDATION FEATURES
Some recommendation features may require your permission before they are turned on. If you turn on these features, you will be asked to give Apple permission to collect and store certain data, including but not limited to data about your device activity, location, and usage. Please carefully read the information presented when you turn on these features.”
Some features can allow Apple to collect your activity, location and usage.
“Last Updated: September 13, 2016”
Their terms and conditions were just updated this month. When do you think they will be updated next?
I found that the literature of this document was relatively easy to follow, however there were some parts that made it more difficult to read. There were sections and paragraphs that were in all capitals, which made it annoying and harder for the eye to read. There were also parts that seemed to be repetitive. At several points I did find myself not wanting to continue reading the paragraph because it was becoming super wordy and I was losing interest. It was however mostly to the point and concise.
I believe that most of the terms were understandable and clear for the average reader. To improve the legal considerations or a user’s comprehension of the terms there could be detailed examples of the situations and terms being stated. When there were descriptions provided the terms were much more understandable.
Reading the terms and conditions agreement was definitely an insightful experience. It will make me question what I am agreeing to next time, however I probably won’t always be reading it in its entirety.
#EID100 #Module2 #TermsOfService
