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![]() A screenshot showing example ratings from ToS;DR | |
URL | tosdr |
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Launched | June 2012 [1] |
Current status | Active |
Content license | CC BY-SA 3.0 [2] |
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]
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]
Several 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 ]
Information privacy is the relationship between the collection and dissemination of data, technology, the public expectation of privacy, contextual information norms, and the legal and political issues surrounding them. It is also known as data privacy or data protection.
Terms of service are the legal agreements between a service provider and a person who wants to use that service. The person must agree to abide by the terms of service in order to use the offered service. Terms of service can also be merely a disclaimer, especially regarding the use of websites. Vague language and lengthy sentences used in these terms of service have caused concerns about customer privacy and raised public awareness in many ways.
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