I don’t ever read the entire Terms of Service—it takes too long, and all the legal jargon makes my head spin. Despite that, I still know what I’m agreeing to before I click accept. Here’s how I do it.
Search for Key Terms
Terms of Service are legal documents. They are written very formally with lots of legal jargon—that’s why they are so hard to read. However, the upside to all that legalese is that Terms of Service tend to reuse the same words. So, if you know what to look for, you can quickly identify the key clauses buried in that mountain of text.
Some keywords to keep an eye out for are: license, privacy policy, data sharing, personal data, third-party, intellectual property, liability, and so on.
Doing a simple search for these words will immediately point you to the section of the Terms of Service that you need to pay special attention to.
For example, a search for privacy policy will usually take me straight to the section of the Terms of Service that details how the company will handle my data, and I can quickly review what the company is doing with my data and decide whether I’m okay with it. Similarly, a search for third-party will alert me to any clauses that permit a company to share my data with third parties.
Another way to make your Terms of Service easier to read is by having an AI model summarize it first. You can use any of the models out there, but I’d advise using one that supports retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) for more accurate results..
Keep in mind, though, that AI tools like ChatGPT aren’t substitutes for legal advice. They can give you a general sense of what the terms mean, but for a thorough, legally sound explanation, it’s always best to consult a lawyer.
I’ve experimented with using ChatGPT to explain the Terms of Service, and it performed admirably, giving me a clear and concise explanation of everything.
When using AI, be sure to ask specific questions, like: What data will they collect on me? How will that data be used? What rights do I have over my data or content? What are the restrictions on using the service? And, what happens if there’s a dispute?
Use TOS;DR
TOS;DR, (short for Terms of Service Didn’t Read), is an online tool that condenses the Terms of Service of popular services into bullet points and then assigns each one a grade between A and E (with A being the best and E being the worst.)
This tool lets you assess the Terms of Service at a glance and make quickfire decisions on whether they are acceptable to you. It covers many popular services, like Facebook, Amazon, Uber, and more.
You don’t have to choose between skipping the Terms of Service and spending hours reading them. The tips above give you a smart middle ground. And while you’re at it, remember—there’s more to staying safe online than just reading the fine print. It’s also worth brushing up on how to browse with maximum privacy.
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