We agree on T&C without reading them. In other words, we sign contracts we do not read. We do so because it is long and painful to go throught the length of legalese involved versus just clicking.
If you recently bought a gadget, a physical one, the only way to use it involves clicking on a lenghty contract.
But there are implications! I remember reading an acticle about the new Amazon Alexa for kids. Alexa is a voice controlled personal assistant, providing bedtime stories for kids. To use it you need to agree on the T&C, and by agreeing to the T&Cs you allow Amazon to listen to your and your kids voice and reactions. I would not enjoy having a stranger with me in the kid’s room while I read today’s bedtime story. Would you?
Lenth of T&C versus the length of Shakespeare’s McBeth
Big companies will use the complexity of the legal language and our lasyness to read all the T&C to make us click to whatever they can.
McBeth is 18110 words long:
- Paypal T&C 36000 words long
- iTunes: 20000
- Facebook: 12000
- Google: 10500
Data from the book Why Simple Wins: Escape the Complexity Trap and Get to Work That Matters
a bientot Frank
PS: if you happen to find some unexpected elements in a T&C, please share.