Privacy Policies:
User Agreements Are Not Innocuous

by Sheri Graves

We’ve all been there. We want to buy a snazzy jacket from an online seller. Or we want to use an online service to pay our credit card bills. Or we simply want to install new software.

Seems like every time we call up something on the screen, there is some kind of “user agreement” or “privacy policy” that we’re supposed to read before clicking “I agree” and moving on to what we really want to do.

There are so many such legal documents attached to web sites and software programs that we’ve become numb to their impact on our lives. We’re in a hurry, always in a hurry. Reading the lengthy document seems absurd. We can’t order the item or do whatever it is we want to do unless we agree to the terms set forth in the document.

Without much thought or worry, we click “I agree.” Once done, the cyberspace world we wanted to enter is open to us. What we don’t think about is that, once we agree to the terms, our lives are open to the entity that asked for our agreement. The Internet is a huge two-way street. In fact, it’s a complicated highway system with cloverleafs, on-ramps, off-ramps, winding roads and broad boulevards. Ours isn’t the only “car” on the road.

It’s the very congestion of the Internet that tends to lull us into a sense of false security. If everybody else is clicking “I agree,” what’s the problem? Well, everybody else isn’t clicking “I agree.” Savvy cyberjunkies know when to say “No.”

The sad truth is that user agreements and privacy policies are not innocuous.

Often there are templates of forms for us to complete before clicking our agreement to the terms of use. The forms ask for the standard information: name, address, e-mail address and maybe even a telephone number. That basic data is the only information we should provide to anyone.

Yet, many of the forms also ask for private information that should not be disclosed, such as Social Security number, age, birthdate, gender, number of persons in the household, annual household income and perhaps even a checklist of major purchases we expect to make during the ensuing year.

No software company or retailer needs this kind of private information to complete the transaction. So, leave those fields on the template blank. If you are unable to make the purchase or access the software program without providing this private information, pick up the telephone and call the company to complain and inquire.

The complaint: This is private information that, if disclosed, provides an open door to identity theft.

The inquiry: How can I complete this transaction without providing this personal information?

Credit card numbers and bank account numbers should not be disclosed unless you are making a purchase via charge or debit card. Even under these circumstances, the experienced Internet surfer is very discriminating in choosing which companies to trust with such vital information.

Some consumers choose to pay their bills online through their bank’s web site. Some pay bills by using the creditor’s web page. Still others avail themselves of the services of companies such as PayPal to handle purchases and payment transactions.

The fewer online entities to have information about you, the better. Hackers work around the clock to break into information databases. Some of the biggest and most secure databases have been hacked, uncovering private information about millions of consumers.

With the existence of identity theft, a major problem in this Internet age, it’s wise to be very careful about what information we provide to online operators. And, yes, it is essential to read through those user agreements and privacy policies that require us to click “I agree.”

These online documents often contain language alluding to third parties that may have access to the information you provide. “Our affiliates” is one way to refer to such third parties without actually identifying them.

Many companies sell your information to third parties who then use it to bombard you with advertising mailers or e-mails that become a nuisance as they proliferate through the reselling of your information by those third parties.

Sometimes the online document will provide an “opt out” box for you to click to indicate you do not want your information shared with any third parties. Always click that box. If the form provides no way to opt out, grab your telephone again and call the company to ask how to opt out of the company’s information sharing program.

Often the user agreement is a registration form in disguise. It enrolls the user into a subscription of sorts, for which there are monthly fees that begin showing up regularly as checking account debits or credit card charges. More often than not, you don’t want that subscription. How do you cancel it? That may be a secret not disclosed in the agreement to which you clicked “I agree.” Once again, pick up your telephone and call the company to ask how to cancel the subscription. Then, cancel it. Otherwise, you may find you’ve signed up for a lifetime of nuisance e-mail for which you are paying a monthly fee.

To navigate the treacherous waters of user agreements and privacy policies, it’s a good idea to have some Internet training. Yet, most people who surf the Web have not even undergone an Internet tutorial. Once you know how to use the Internet, and once you become discriminating enough to determine which user agreements and privacy policies to accept, you can minimize the dangers that lurk in the dark corners of uncertainty.

About the Author:
Sheri Graves is a freelance writer living in Santa Rosa, California.

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