Is it too much to ask for online services with reasonable terms and conditions?
The recent scandals linked to tech giants like Facebook and Google are beginning to make a seemingly simple question obligatory: why is it practically impossible to contract a service with a company that’s subject to reasonable terms of service regarding privacy? Is Apple the only one capable of providing certain guarantees in this regard?
Have you ever tried reading the terms and conditions of practically any service you will have signed up to online? As we all know, “I have read and understood the terms of service” is the biggest lie on the internet. In almost every case you will find that the company reserves the right to use the data generated by our activities for purposes we don’t understand, using legalese that gives it carte blanche. Obviously, companies are aware that their users’ data is gold if managed properly. That said, do all companies really sell that data or use it for sinister purposes we would never agree to if we knew?
In practice, many companies include these types of clauses as a precautionary measure, in case at some point they want to carry out marketing or they encounter some kind of potential use for our data that seems reasonably safe, but that frees them from any liability and may generate income. Nevertheless, the chances of finding terms and conditions of service that are clear and explicit are minimal.
What sort of data are we talking about? The best article I’ve read talks about three layers: information we explicitly share with the service, such as our phone number, date of birth or sites we’ve visited; stuff that can be inferred from our behavior when using the service, such as how we use apps or data we download; and those that its algorithms are able to deduce, such as family members, if you have lost a loved one or if you are looking for a job.
I have to say that I don’t understand why, in the 21st century, we have to accept that any service we sign up to has the automatic right to make money from the data we provide or generate without being open about it. Shouldn’t we have control over our data and even be compensated for any use a company intends to make of it? Is that really so much to ask? Wouldn’t it be nice to come across a service where the terms and conditions were laid out clearly and simply, in language we could understand and that didn’t leave us with the nagging suspicion that our data was going to be sold on to who knows who?
It could just be that some companies are beginning to see a competitive advantage in offering terms and conditions that do respect our privacy. Perhaps soon we will come across a service whose terms and conditions read something like this: THE DATA COMMUNICATED TO THE COMPANY OR GENERATED BY THE ACTIVITY OF THE USER WILL NEVER AND UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES BE SOLD ON TO ANY THIRD PARTY. What’s so hard about a clause like that, written in perfectly clear terms? Would it prevent reasonable use, such as by Google Analytics to monitor activity on its website?Couldn’t such a case be easily explained to users?
Isn’t it about time we started seeing this kind of clear and specific approach from services providers looking to enter a highly competitive market? Is there a market for those of us who care about our privacy and data? Shouldn’t we start encouraging people to insist on reasonable terms and conditions? How much do companies stand to lose by writing terms and conditions that offer guarantees of data protection and how much do they stand to gain for doing so?
(En español, aquí)
