EFF Launches TOSBack - A 'Terms of Service' Tracker for Facebook, Google, eBay, and More

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: EFF Press <press () eff org>
Date: June 4, 2009 12:16:48 PM EDT
To: presslist () eff org
Subject: [E-B] EFF Launches TOSBack - A 'Terms of Service' Tracker for  
Facebook, Google, eBay, and More
Reply-To: press () eff org

Electronic Frontier Foundation Media Release

For Immediate Release: Thursday, June 04, 2009

Contact:

Tim Jones
 Activism and Technology Manager
 Electronic Frontier Foundation
 tim () eff org
 +1 415 436-9333 x135

Fred von Lohmann
 Senior Intellectual Property Attorney
 Electronic Frontier Foundation
 fred () eff org
 +1 415 436-9333 x123 (office), +1 415 215-6087 (cell)

EFF Launches TOSBack - A 'Terms of Service' Tracker for
Facebook, Google, eBay, and More

New Tool Documents Changes in Policy on the Internet's
Biggest Websites

San Francisco - "Terms of Service" policies on websites
define how Internet businesses interact with you and use
your personal information.  But most web users don't read
these policies -- or understand that the terms are
constantly changing.  To track these ever-evolving
documents, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is
launching "TOSBack": a "terms of service" tracker for
Facebook, Google, eBay, and other major websites.

"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," said EFF Activism and
Technology Manager Tim Jones.  "We created TOSBack to help
consumers monitor terms of service for the websites they
use everyday, and show how the terms change over time."

At www.TOSBack.org, you can see 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 brings you to a side-by-side before-and-after
comparison, highlighting what has been removed from the
policy and what has been added.

The issue of terms-of-service changes -- and how and why
they are made -- was highlighted earlier this year when
Facebook modified its terms of use.  Facebook users worried
that the change gave the company the right to use members'
content indefinitely.  After a user revolt, Facebook
announced that it would restore the former terms while it
worked through the concerns users had raised.

"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."

For TOSBack:
http://www.TOSBack.org

For this release:
http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2009/06/03-0

About EFF

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading civil
liberties organization working to protect rights in the
digital world. Founded in 1990, EFF actively encourages and
challenges industry and government to support free
expression and privacy online. EFF is a member-supported
organization and maintains one of the most linked-to
websites in the world at http://www.eff.org/


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