Terms of Service; Didn't Read (ToS;DR) is a community project that aims to analyze and grade the terms of service (TOS) and privacy policies of major Internet sites and services. Each aspect of a TOS or privacy policy is assessed as positive, negative, or neutral. Services are graded from A (best) to E (worst) once a comprehensive list of cases has been reviewed by volunteer curators.[3][4][5] The project's name is a play on the phrase too long; didn't read.[1]
 | |
 A screenshot showing example ratings from ToS;DR | |
| URL | tosdr |
|---|---|
| Launched | June 2012[1] |
| Current status | Active |
Content license | CC BY-SA 3.0[2] |
The project was founded in June 2012 by Hugo Roy, programmer Michiel de Jong, and designer Jan-Christoph Borchardt.[6] It was led by Hugo Roy, when he was a law student,[7] from 2012 to 2015. In 2020, the project was revived with a larger team.
The project offers a browser extension for Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Apple Safari, Mozilla Firefox and Opera, which shows the grade and a short description of the privacy policy if a website is compatible.[8][9]
History
editSeveral sources of inspiration have been noted for ToS;DR, including Creative Commons' plain English summaries of licenses, EU energy efficiency ratings,[10] and Aza Raskin's Privacy Icons.[citation needed]
References
edit- ^ a b "About - Terms of Service; Didn't Read". Retrieved 14 April 2023.
- ^ "Terms of Contribution - Terms of Service; Didn't Read". Retrieved 14 April 2023.
- ^ Brown, Mark (15 August 2012). "ToS;DR website translates terms of service agreements into English". Wired. Archived from the original on 18 August 2012. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
- ^ Blagdon, Jeff (14 August 2012). "ToS;DR reads the terms of service so you don't have to". The Verge. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
- ^ Klosowski, Thorin (8 August 2012). "ToS;DR Is a One-Stop Shop for Webapp Terms of Service Ratings". Lifehacker. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
- ^ "About Us -- Terms of Service; Didn't Read".
- ^ Luckerson, Victor (10 August 2012). "Facebook, Google, Others Have Privacy Policies Explained on New Website". Time. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
- ^ "Downloads -- Terms of Service; Didn't Read". tosdr.org. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
- ^ "Terms of Service; Didn't Read: TOS Summaries - gHacks". gHacks. 2017-08-20. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
- ^ Finley, Klint (13 August 2012). "Putting An End To The Biggest Lie On The Internet". TechCrunch. Retrieved 14 April 2023.