The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) launched TOSBack.org to help users track changes in websites' Terms of Service. According to the EFF, most web users don't read the Terms of Service, which are policies on websites that define how Internet businesses interact with users and use their personal information. The new site tracks such sites as eBay, Amazon, Google, Facebook, Craigslist and GoDaddy.
EFF Activism and Technology Manager Tim Jones said, "Terms of service form the foundation of your relationship with social networking sites, online businesses, and other Internet communities, but most people become aware of these terms only when there's a problem. We created TOSBack to help consumers monitor terms of service for the websites they use everyday, and show how the terms change over time."
TOSBack.org displays a real-time feed of changes and updates to more than three dozen polices from the Internet's most popular online services. Clicking on an update displays a side-by-side before-and-after comparison, highlighting what has been removed from the policy and what has been added. Interestingly, the site documents recent changes made to eBay's terms of service after it backed down from a new destroy provision in an anti-fakes policy.
"Some changes to terms of service are good for consumers, and some are bad," said EFF Senior Staff Attorney Fred von Lohmann. "But Internet users are increasingly trusting websites with everything from their photos to their "friends lists" to their calendar - and sometimes even their medical information. TOSBack will help consumers flag changes in the websites they use every day and trust with their personal information."
http://www.tosback.org
