Terms & Services — What Did I Just Agree To?

I’ve always laughed off the memes and jokes about how no one ever actually reads what they’re signing up to when it comes to the “terms & conditions”. Some people even laugh it off to each other that you don’t really know what you’re signing up for, even after you’ve been using the app/program for quite some time. People are having their information sold, their location tracked, all while being completely oblivious. Even after finding out these things you’ve agreed to, signing the terms and conditions has essentially waived your right to do anything about it.

Inside Edition created a social experiment where they advertised an iPad giveaway, and all people had to do to enter was register for their program, and sign the “terms & conditions”. Little did these people know, they were signing up for more than they bargained for. Some people agreed to give away the shirt off their back, others had more intense circumstances such as donating a kidney or fostering a child. The look of horror on these people’s faces, realizing the mistake they made, was both funny and unnerving.

Thankfully this was just a prank, but what if it wasn’t? What if you agreed to register for a program or software, and little did you know you essentially signed your life away at the mere click of a button? It’s a scary thing to think about, and what’s scarier is just how easy it could be to do. The sad thing is, we see situations like this, and eventually brush it off. We look at articles that explain what you’re agreeing to when accessing certain sites, yet the majority of us still aren’t going to read the “fine print” the next time we want to use a new app, or create a new account on a website. We’re all impatient, and it just takes too much time. Better yet, we have the thought process of “oh, that would never happen to me..”.