One never really pays attention to the “Terms of Service”. Most just check “I agree”, and get on with their business. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has just launched a new program that can automatically (by the hour) scan for changes in the Terms of Service agreements in 44 big name websites; Myspace, Facebook, Google, Ebay, Amazon, etc.
The program is located on TOSBack.org, and works in conjunction with the WayBack Machine. The WayBack machine pulls out old drafts of the Terms of Service agreements, and the TOSBack compares them with new versions, even highlighting certain sections that have been changed, deleted, or added.
Tim Jones, the company’s technology manager, attests to the confusion most feel when reading the Terms of Service. “Most skip it because it is boring and confusing.” This is true; it takes a lawyer to understand what the document is saying sometimes, and it is often quite vague.
“Some changes to terms of service are beneficial to customers, and some are not”, states Electronic Frontier Foundation Staff Attorney Fred von Lohmann. This is especially true in today’s internet travelers, trusting websites with friends, locations, and even personal photos.
Some of these documents hardly ever change, while some do rapidly, as Ebay did five times in two hours. Often, these changes are simply to clarify issues or just to correct a punctuation error, but are sometimes more drastic.
The TOSBack can’t explain the changes made to these Terms of Service documents just yet, but they can alert users who could. The system will continue to evolve and will support explanation capabilities in the future.
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