An investigative data journalist and a former tech lawyer teach you how to spot tricks and hidden disclosures within these interminable documents—and even how to claw back some privacy
Incomprehensible/overcomplicated ToS already get declared as void every now and then by a competent court, so they aren’t really enforceable.
They should be forced to have a simplified part and a jurist part.
This will never work. Most of the time they are this complicated to cover any potential loopholes from every angle and point of view.
Offering a simplified version will just lead to some idiot exploiting a loophole that doesn’t exist in the juristic version and once that case goes to court we have the issue of what version counts for the average consumer.
If we preface this by saying only the juristic one is legally binding and you have to read it either way, then the simplified one lost its purpose.
Who is the simplified version even meant for? Pretty much no one reads ToS, the only ones doing so will have some kind of business relations. Be it the ToS of their Software or their supplier, they will need the juristic version either way.
Besides all that, most Software ToS are at least comprehensible if you take a few seconds to think about what you read.
This is already done in other areas. In many places each bank offering has a single digit risk score. It’s based on your exposure and how volatile the instruments it’s investing in are. Savings account will be 1, stock market closer to 10. You’re signing really complex contract with the bank but the risk can be objectively verified. Same could be done for ToS.
Incomprehensible/overcomplicated ToS already get declared as void every now and then by a competent court, so they aren’t really enforceable.
This will never work. Most of the time they are this complicated to cover any potential loopholes from every angle and point of view.
Offering a simplified version will just lead to some idiot exploiting a loophole that doesn’t exist in the juristic version and once that case goes to court we have the issue of what version counts for the average consumer.
If we preface this by saying only the juristic one is legally binding and you have to read it either way, then the simplified one lost its purpose.
Who is the simplified version even meant for? Pretty much no one reads ToS, the only ones doing so will have some kind of business relations. Be it the ToS of their Software or their supplier, they will need the juristic version either way.
Besides all that, most Software ToS are at least comprehensible if you take a few seconds to think about what you read.
This is already done in other areas. In many places each bank offering has a single digit risk score. It’s based on your exposure and how volatile the instruments it’s investing in are. Savings account will be 1, stock market closer to 10. You’re signing really complex contract with the bank but the risk can be objectively verified. Same could be done for ToS.