Blog 5

What You Are REALLY Agreeing With...

Almost all Internet users should be familiar with the Terms and Conditions that almost every company and app require you to comply with before moving forward with their product or service. However, those Terms and Conditions are famously known for the copious amount of pages that compile them, filled with the smallest print imaginable. Because of this, the average user barely makes it through the first few pages before giving up and clicking ‘accept’. I personally have fallen guilty of clicking ‘I accept’ without reading what exactly I was agreeing with.

When picking a social media app in regards to reading their Terms and Conditions, I decided to examine Snapchat. I have found that since the coronavirus has caused a movement to online classes, forcing me to go home to Florida, I use Snapchat as a means to communicate with my friends in Virginia, as well as a form of entertainment. With an app that I have used since 2010, I wanted to dive in and see what I have been in compliance with, without knowing it.

My Findings:

Searching for Snapchat’s 'terms and conditions' was fairly easy and brought you to the Snap.Inc website. The format consists of a welcome paragraph, followed by numerated bold subjects, with paragraphs going in detail beneath each one. They have their terms and conditions split between if you live in the United States and if you live outside of it.

One thing that Snap. Inc points out is that every Snapchat user stores and posts on his/her story, is automatically susceptible to being used by Snap Inc. “worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable, and transferable license to host, store, use, display, reproduce, modify, adapt, edit, publish, and distribute that content” (Snap Inc., 2019). Meaning, a user’s snap can be taken and used for whatever purposes by the company. What surprised me about this was underneath, Snap Inc. goes into detail that if a user submits a snap to something called a “Public Story” they give Snap Inc. “unrestricted, worldwide right and license to use your name, likeness, and voice” (Snap Inc., 2019) without any compensation or warning before they do so. This stood out to me because it correlates heavily with our previous discussions about exploited labor of social media users and it also caused me to think if I would be comfortable with my name being put out worldwide for all of Snapchat to see.

Scrolling down, I noticed that the terms and conditions included a lot of links to other documents that dove deeper into certain topics such as privacy. When I clicked on the ‘privacy policy’ link, I was taken to a separate page with numerous tabs related to different aspects of Snap Inc.’s privacy rules and regulations. Reading through this is where my mind started wandering off and I found myself skimming every few lines. However, one thing Snap inc. makes VERY clear is to be aware that another Snapchat user can save any content you send them:

I find it interesting, but not very surprising, how intensely Snap Inc. lays out their ‘Privacy Policy’. With Snapchat being a camera app that is insanely popular with younger generations, I think it is good that they explicitly state to be careful about the images and other content a user sends via Snapchat. They do a good job of making sure the company is protected in the case of any future lawsuits that may develop if a user thinks their privacy is being infringed upon and/or violated. The first reading that comes to mind to relate to this is Social Media, Online Sharing, and the Ethical Complexity of Consent in Revenge Porn by Scott R, Stroud, and Jonathan A. Henson. In the reading, the topics of privacy and consent were discussed in detail and the importance of understanding the legal system's stance on each. With any social media platform, it is important that there is a mutual understanding of where the line of privacy and consent stand.

Their privacy policy further states that they keep track of the filter’s a user frequently uses as well as how and when they communicate with others (such as what time of day a user sends snaps). They do state that they access a phone’s camera roll and location, but only with that user’s permission. This is then followed by their policy with information and data collected by cookies and other technology. Under this, they give a brief summary and prompt you to click a link to another page to read about their cookie policy.

My Thoughts

After skimming through the rest of the terms and conditions, I can say that nothing stood out to me as anything truly unexpected. All the information that was there could be summed up to what I would think is common sense when using any social media platform, especially one with a camera service. My initial thought was the terms and conditions did not seem as intense as others, but as I started reading and seeing how many links they have for someone to ‘learn more’, I realized the terms and conditions page is really just a summary or overview. With that, I think the terms and conditions are easily accessible to anyone looking for them, but they have to be sure to read through its entirety to get all the legal details.

While it was interesting to read (or skim) the terms and conditions of Snapchat, I don’t think I am any more convinced to take the time to do it before signing up for another social media app in the future. I say this because I know my lazy habits and I have not had any issues where I needed to refer to the terms and conditions in the past. As I mentioned previously, the major points sounded like common sense when using a social media platform and I still believe the terms and conditions, and all the documents included beneath that title, are laid out in a way to more so benefit and protect the company.

References:

Snap Inc. Terms of Service. (2019, October 30). Retrieved from 

https://www.snap.com/en-US/terms#terms-us

Snap Inc. Privacy Policy (2019, December 18). Retrieved from

https://www.snap.com/en-US/privacy/privacy-policy/