terms of service
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Zoom now says it won’t use any customer content for AI training
Zoom has reversed course (again) and updated its terms of service after a backlash earlier this week. Following consumer blowback about an update to its terms which appeared to grant the platform the unlimited ability to use customer data to train AI models, it now says it will not use any consumer data to train AI models from Zoom or third parties. The previous wording said it wouldn’t do so “without customer consent,” which raised eyebrows since “consent” was (at best) a gray area for people joining a call (and acknowledging a pop-up) in which the meeting organizer enabled the feature and already agreed to the terms.
Zoom reverses policy that allowed it to train AI on customer data
Zoom has made changes to its terms of service after online blowback over recent updates to the company’s fine print allowing AI training on customer data. A report from StackDiary over the weekend highlighted how the changes, which rolled out in March without fanfare, appeared to grant the company sweeping control over customer data for AI training purposes. In response, Zoom published a blog post today claiming it wouldn’t do what its terms said it could do; the company then updated its terms. It now says it doesn’t train AI models on consumer video, audio or chats “without customer consent.”
US lawmakers want terms of service to be summarized in plain language
Unless you’re a lawyer, there’s a pretty good chance you’ve never read through a website’s entire terms of service.
Amazon makes it easier to sue after deluge of arbitration claims
Amazon has changed its policy on forced arbitration to allow customers to file lawsuits against it.
Twitch clarifies its ban on terrorist and extremist content
The service reinforced that there's no place for such material on its platform.
Google's new terms of service will (hopefully) be easier to read
Terms of service still tend to read like legal alphabet soup, but Google thinks it can do better. It's notifying users of a TOS change on March 31st that, among other things, should remove some of the mystery. The internet giant said its new terms are still written in legalese, but that the company has "done [its] best" to make them easier to grasp, including definitions and links. Google is promising better overall communication, too, clarifying just when it will change services or limit access. It aims to send more notifications if changes affect service.
YouTube is making its terms of service easier to read
If you visit YouTube today, you'll see a pop-up window alerting you that the platform's Terms of Service will be updated on December 10th. The new terms do not change the way YouTube treats your info, and YouTube isn't changing how it uses creators' content, but it is clarifying a few of its policies.
Facebook tweaks terms of service to better explain user rights
Facebook's terms of service agreement is infamous for being lengthy and hard to decipher -- and it appears that the company has gone back to the drawing board. The social media giant has unveiled an update to its user agreement that it thinks will better explain how it makes money and what happens when it removes content. The changes aren't entirely self-directed: Back in April the European Commission forced the social media giant to spell out that it makes money by selling targeted ads based off of user data. As a result, the company agreed to revise its terms publicly by the end of June.
Lawyers almost made 'click to accept TOS' boxes disappear forever
Could simply visiting a website bind you to its terms of service? Luckily, not in the near future. A controversial vote of the American Law Institute on Tuesday on a sweeping change to consumer contract law was postponed after hours of heated debate and not much consensus. If approved, the nearly 134-page Restatement Project would have opened the door for businesses to take data from unknowing consumers. Critics of the project, including consumer rights groups, more than 23 state attorneys general and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) had called for it to be voted down.
Twitter may label notable tweets that violate its terms
Twitter is considering a label for tweets that violate its rules but believes should remain on the platform because they're in the public interest. Twitter's head of legal, policy and trust Vijaya Gadde said in a Washington Post interview such a label could "put some context around [a tweet] so people are aware that that content is actually a violation of our rules and it is serving a particular purpose in remaining on the platform."
Facebook translates its privacy policy back into plain English
Facebook is changing its privacy policies yet again, but this time it's using language regular people might be able to understand. A new initiative called Privacy Basics attempts to inform Facebook users of how its settings work, including interactive tutorials on how to take control of your privacy on the social network.
EVE Evolved: Eleven years of EVE Online
It seems that every year another few MMOs have closed their doors or convert to free-to-play business models to stay afloat. EVE Online has always enjoyed a level of insulation from these market trends elsewhere in the genre, and just last week on May 6th it celebrated its 11th year of year-on-year subscription growth. Following on from my previous column celebrating the EVE Evolved column's sixth year of operation, this week I'll be summarising all the major EVE news stories throughout the year. It's been a big year for EVE fans, one that many of us can be proud to have been a part of. The EVE community turned its financial wizardry toward the real world and raised over $190,000 US in relief aid following a typhoon hitting the Philippines, and CCP even built a monument dedicated to the community. Several massive player battles once again put EVE on the global media's radars, and the Odyssey and Rubicon expansions revitalised the game for explorers and PvPers alike. But not everyone can hold his heads up high this year, with details of more cyberbullying within EVE coming to light and several players being banned for defacing the EVE monument in Reykjavik. In this anniversary retrospective, I summarise all the major EVE news from the year in one place and take a look at what the future may hold for the EVE universe.
Google's recent TOS update reminds us what little choice we have
So, Google analyzes your email. Who knew? Well, judging by a recent wave of internet chatter regarding a two-sentence update the search giant made to its terms of service this week, not that many. The truth is, of course, that most Gmail users did know that Google scans your email, or parses it in some way so that it can place those oh so important personalized adverts alongside them. Like anyone on Facebook who got dating ads after changing their relationship status can attest to. The backlash this week, however, seemed to take two basic flavors. One being paranoia that some deep change had taken place that the search giant was looking to sneak past us. The second being that this was a sign of how our rights are constantly being eroded, and that this constant "policy creep" will soon have us handing over our deepest darkest digital secrets, without any powers to negotiate. So which is it?
CCP clarifies EVE terms of service changes again
You may remember that about a week ago CCP incurred the ire of many fans by rewording EVE Online's Terms of Service, which according to many threatened to put a stranglehold on players hoping to scam some chumps by impersonating another player. Well, as part of the ongoing madness/dialogue between players and CCP, the studio has posted a clarification on the game's official site. Specifically, the post clarifies that "the purpose of the ToS update was to pull bits of existing policy into a prominent place where everyone would be able to see it, rather than requiring players to dig through EULA and Naming Policy to fully understand all the rules regarding impersonation." The post goes on to dig through the history of CCP's policies on impersonation from the beginning and the changes they have undergone since. You can find all those nitty-gritty details in the official post, but the takeaway from CCP seems to be that the only thing that has changed is the wording of the terms of service and that CCP will continue to handle cases of impersonation in the same way it has in the past. If you want to read the whole statement for yourself, just click on through the link below.
Drama Mamas: Bullying is not welcome here
Mishandled humor is one thing. But stereotyping, disdain, and bullying? The WoW community has no room for players who've made those a part of their rotation. Dear Drama Mamas, Starting things off; I'm a Moonguard player. Hear that sound? I know you do, because the mere word Moonguard invokes it in so many players now; words like "obscene" or "immature" or "inappropriate" jump to mind. And it drives me absolutely crazy. Let's get the obvious out of the way; Moonguard has a bad reputation because of Goldshire. And Silvermoon City. Okay, fine, yes, we get the point. But every single time I get into a group, every single time I enter a Battleground, or an Arena, the moment I even say anything (or sometimes when I haven't said anything yet), it begins. The more polite chuckleheads spew it into the public chat, every possible Moonguard joke and comment they can think of, and a couple of personal attacks against anyone who would dare to touch the place with a ten foot pole. The less polite ones start whispering, telling you to get out of the group, or to disconnect, to stop being a child or stop being a freak of nature. Heaven help you if ANYONE in that dungeon group turns out to be bad, because it can and will get blamed on you. If your team ends up down 0/2 and you mention it's because so-and-so is dancing on the roof not attacking or defending, you could be in the enemy flag room, with the flag, having downed half of the other team solo, and it's your fault because you're a filthy Moonguard player (this is also about the time you get the wonderful suggestion that you should kill yourself).
App.Net posts terms of service, asks for feedback
Against all odds App.Net met its funding goal, which has allowed the fledgling social network to shift its focus to the next phase of its founding. That means putting together all those essential documents that will govern its operation, including a terms of service and privacy policy. Creator Dalton Caldwell has posted first drafts of several docs and asked his backers for feedback, offering them an attempt to shape the rules that will guide how the site is run. Those policy documents are also going to be subjected to a quarterly review, which should allow the service to remain nimble if some rules turn out to be controversial or cumbersome. For more info, check out the source link.
Google revamps Play Store developer rules, looks to banish intrusive advertising
Google has tweaked the developer policy for the Play Store with an eye on reducing intrusive advertising, spoof apps and clarifying subscription cancellations. Apps that pass themselves off as others, or are "confusingly similar" will now be pulled, so say goodbye to those thousand instances of Angry Byrdz. Adverts that pop up in your notifications window, like Airpush and KDDI's au one now make their way onto the verboten list. It's also clarifying that when users cancel their subscriptions, they won't be refunded for the current billing period, but will continue to receive what they'd paid for until the term expires. Developers now have 30 days to comply with the changes, after which point apps that are found to be in violation will be pulled by Mountain View's overlords.
Last chance to clear out Google Web History before the great data convergence
The end is nigh! For about 59 different Google ToS documents at least. After today, the new consolidated privacy policy will go into effect on March 1st, which will also consolidate much of your data across Google's properties. That means this is a your last chance to clear out El Goog's "you archives" before the great convergence of 2012. If you're not keen on Google sharing your information between its various products (though, you seemed to be okay with it being collected in the first place) today is the day to go and delete it all. Of particular concern for some is Web History, which collects your searches and sites visited and has, until now, been walled off from the rest of the Google empire. For complete instructions for how to clear out your Google Web History hit up the source link.Update: The EFF has clarified, and we feel it necessary to follow suit, that disabling your web history does not stop Google from collecting data about you. What it does mean is that after 18 months that information is partially anonymized and that certain features, like custom search results, will not be enabled. Just as importantly, we mistakenly said that Wednesday, February 22nd was your last chance to turn off the feature. The new ToS does not go into effect until March 1st.
PlayStation Network ID moniter sacked, falls under Sony Entertainment Network umbrella on Feb. 7
Listen up, those of you with PlayStation Network IDs. Sony Computer Entertainment International has announced that, as of February 7th, PSN IDs will change into SEN IDs as a part of its existing Sony Entertainment Network The company has aimed the move at clearly unifying the services of PSN and SEN, such as Music Unlimited. Fret not, however, as Joystiq notes that the change is basically a looks-only affair, meaning your current account information and related services will remain the same. Notably, the moniker refresh won't apply to the PSP, which will curiously remain under the PSN moniker for network services. The news comes as a part of SCEI's updated Terms of Service and privacy policy, both of which take effect on the same day. Those changes, by the way, appear to mainly be regarding location-based services for PS Vita, and parental controls for sub-master accounts. After all of the bad times PSN has been through, partnering up closer to SEN might just be the refreshed outlook on (online) life it needed all along -- and hopefully with less downtime. Hit up the source link below for the full details.Update: We've adjusted the post to clarify that the PlayStation Network will remain named as such, but that PSN IDs have now become SEN IDs.
Google clarifies what isn't changing with new privacy policy
As you may remember, roughly a week ago Google issued a major overhaul of its privacy policies -- condensing some 60 scattered terms of service into a single document covering a vast majority of its internet empire. Of course, this raised concern, confusion and led to stories circulating the web about the inherent danger of the revised TOS. Truth be told, most of the wild-eyed fear mongering was done by those who either had not read or had not understood what the simplified policies mean (though, we hardly fault them for being suspicious). Google is looking to allay those fears however, and has released the full text of a letter written to congress clarifying the new TOS. The important information here is presented on the Google Public Policy Blog as bullet points and that is what's not changing. Users will still be able to search without signing in, opt out of targeted ads, export their data and maintain fine-grained control over their private data. Oh and Google will never, we repeat never, sell your information to advertisers. Hit up the source link if you're still in need of more details.
