If your suffering leads to our suffering, you may be liable for damages.

July 11, 2013 8:11 AM

The new documentary "Terms And Conditions May Apply," about the privacy overreach of major tech companies, presents its trailer on a cleverly written page of terms and conditions.
posted by mark7570 (10 comments total)

Those are actually the most honest terms and conditions I've ever read.
posted by antonymous at 8:34 AM on July 11, 2013 [3 favorites]

It could be greatly simplified, however: "You agree that we can do whatever we want, whenever we want, including stuff we haven't thought of yet. Even if you don't agree, we'll probably do it anyhow. You gotta problem with that? Tough."
posted by Longtime Listener at 9:08 AM on July 11, 2013

Here's what I don't understand: No one cares.

Well, not "no one," but the vast, vast majority of people, even when all this is explained, will continue to use Facebook, Google, etc.

Didn't anyone here think that maybe, after the recent news about Facebook sharing info with the government, there would be at last a mini-wave of people canceling their accounts? Didn't happen. Not a blip.
posted by MoxieProxy at 10:02 AM on July 11, 2013

I will watch this film very closely. Anything I derive from it may or may not lead to conclusions. Any conclusions arrived at may or may not lead to further action on my part.
Dizziness, a prolonged cough, and/or spontaneous sexual arousal are potential side effects of reading this comment, and I am not responsible for any skin conditions you may or may not have as a result of same. Individual results may vary.
posted by disclaimer at 10:31 AM on July 11, 2013

Here's what I don't understand: No one cares.

I don't think it's that no one cares, but the benefit to using those services is too great to leave behind. If you quit Facebook, you're not going to know what events your friends are going to, what they're up to, when it's someone's birthday, etc. It's the same with cell phones - If I decide to stick it to the NSA and stop carrying my mobile tracking device (which also makes phone calls!), I've cut myself out of a very important modern communications tool, and access to the network which that tool enables. The sacrifice of giving up those things is too great for most people (myself included) to overcome.
posted by antonymous at 10:34 AM on July 11, 2013

I can see your point with mobile phones, but not with Facebook.

But let me ask, where is the line for you with Facebook? At which point would the benefit of the services NOT outweigh the infringement on your privacy?
posted by MoxieProxy at 10:58 AM on July 11, 2013

The people responsible for writing these terms & conditions have been sacked.
posted by dry white toast at 11:12 AM on July 11, 2013 [1 favorite]

But let me ask, where is the line for you with Facebook? At which point would the benefit of the services NOT outweigh the infringement on your privacy?

Got me thinking.

Honestly for me I'm in the I don't really care group. I'm on Facebook because most of my family is a don't post a whole lot myself. It's a way to keep in touch about the mundane every day things people do.
It's sort of love hate relationship and one that I've always treated as a place that I put things that I don't care if anyone knows regardless of whatever privacy things they have. Even though I have it set for the highest privacy levels possible in it's structure I've always thought of it as a open public space in terms of how I use it. I've been cynical about it from the very beginning. It's a for profit company and I've never been under any illusion that when push comes to shove they'll choose me over money.
posted by Jalliah at 11:12 AM on July 11, 2013

For me, I "use" Facebook fairly infrequently, but I find it indispensable for certain things. Without it, I'd never see pictures of my friends' kids, or know that a buddy's band is playing a show next Friday. I understand the concept of just "deleting Facebook" but I think that's a bit of head-in-the-sand denialism about what data is out there on you. I keep my account active so I can have some modicum of control over my online identity - whether that control is real or an illusion I honestly don't know. But like Jalliah says, I enter into a relationship with them knowing that I'm nothing but a potential revenue source.
posted by antonymous at 11:22 AM on July 11, 2013

The mundane day-to-day things that you're not interested in but need to talk about are very interesting to intelligence agencies, because of the reasons you need to talk about them. Once you've put all that on Facebook, there's actually not very much left to give up.
posted by LogicalDash at 4:39 AM on July 12, 2013