The modern way to (not) read privacy policies and terms of service
We’ve been living with unreadable and crushingly long legalese since the birth of personal computing. Every piece of software, every gaming console and every computer came with terms of service that no one ever read, but everyone pretended was binding. Decades later, this trend has expanded with terms of service that we must agree to before using everything from our toothbrushes to our cars. And privacy policies that can change daily without notice or notification.
While vendors have taken some steps to make this less ridiculous (such as writing in plain language instead of legal jargon and having unified policies and terms that apply to all their products and services) the problem continues: consumers face firehoses of legal language that they won’t read. Instead, most people agree to egregious abuse of their consumer rights and personal data with the click of a mouse.
In the age of AI, the risks of doing this have expanded. The consumer has become feedstock for AI training, and AI in turn makes it very easy to gather, collate, leverage and abuse customer data.
But AI also provides a solution for consumers. You no longer have to read thousands of words of legalese in order to understand and evaluate what you’re being asked to agree to. We’ve been testing consumer-level AI tools and their ability to accurately evaluate terms of service and privacy policies, and they now do a pretty good job.
How to try this yourself: The next time you see an “Agree To” button or link, look at the TOS or policy you’re being asked to accept. Copy its text and paste it into one of the more robust chatbots. (The ones we’ve tested are Gemini AI and Claude.)
Add the following prompt in front of the text:
Summarize and evaluate the following usage terms, with a focus on privacy for Canadian users, data sovereignty, AI use, consumer rights, and data protection risk.
(Modify this as appropriate for your location and concerns. The prompt above should drive the AI chatbot to consider Canada-specific concerns, such as PIPEDA legislation.)
The AI should provide a much shorter, more readable explanation focused on your specific risks, letting you make a more informed decision about your rights and your consumer choices without spending half your life reading terms of service.
If you’re a business, we recommend you file a copy of every TOS or privacy agreement you enter into. This can be as simple as printing off a copy and writing on it the date you agreed to it, along with the associated email or other account information, and sticking that in a folder in your filing cabinet. Or you could enter it into whichever system you’re using for online corporate data management. It can also be useful to attach the AI analysis of the agreement, for future reference.
Once this becomes habit, you’ll be far better informed about how vendors are using your data and respecting your rights. And as a business, you’ll be more empowered to address your own customers’ privacy and data protection concerns.
(Important note: Current AI chatbots are not infallible. They make mistakes and sound confident doing it. For any important agreement, read it yourself, or have a lawyer review it.)
Orchard can help you implement systems to streamline the review, processing, recording and management of legal agreements you enter into, including terms of service and privacy agreements. Contact us to find out more.
