Yahoo's new terms of service are scary | Hacker News Reader

Yahoo's new terms of service are scary

5 pointsbawana3 comments

PART 1 New Privacy and Terms

Yahoo is now part of Oath, the media and tech company behind today’s top news, sports and entertainment sites and apps.

By choosing “I accept” below, you agree to Oath’s new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Below is a summary of some of the key updates. To learn more about our approach to privacy, click here.

How we collect and use data.

We’ve updated some of the ways we collect and analyze user data in order to deliver services, content, relevant advertising and abuse protection.

This includes: analyzing content and information when you use our services (including emails, instant messages, posts, photos, attachments, and other communications), linking your activity on other sites and apps with information we have about you, and providing anonymized and/or aggregated reports to other parties regarding user trends.

Sharing Data with Verizon.

Oath and its affiliates may share the information we receive with Verizon. Learn more about Verizon’s privacy practices.

Combining data.

We also combine data among our services and across your devices. This will provide you with better personalized services and features across your devices and Oath accounts. We’ve provided information about your choices with respect to your use of our services, and given you control in our Privacy Controls section.

Part 2

Key Points in Terms of Service

• We’ve added a mutual arbitration clause. Hopefully, disputes will never be an issue, but in the case of one, this allows a third-party arbitrator to help us resolve them. We’ve also added a class action waiver. These provisions are an important part of our relationship with you, so please read them carefully.

• We’ve specified the legal entity that provides each service to you. For some services, this may be a different entity than the entity that previously provided the service. We’ve also reserved the right to transfer the providing entity for each service in the future.

• General provisions that apply to billing, auto-renewal, and refunds have been added. Unless the additional terms for a service override the Terms of Service, these provisions apply to your use of our paid services.

• Applicability of Terms. If you are using our services on behalf of another account owner (e.g., as an administrator, consultant or analyst) or on behalf of a company, business or other entity, the Terms of Service apply to your activities and are binding on the account owner or entity.

• Indemnity for Non-Personal Use. If you are using our Services on behalf of a company, business or other entity, or if you are using our Services for commercial purposes, we’ve added an indemnity provision, which requires you and the entity to protect us against certain legal actions.

• We’ve updated our choice of law and forum provisions. New York law now governs and New York, New York is the designated forum. Business to Business. • The Oath Business-to-Business Privacy Policy applies when you use Flurry, Gemini, ONE by AOL, Convertro, BrightRoll or any other Oath business-to-business products. All other consumer-facing activities are covered by the Oath Privacy Policy.

They ARE scary. It means that no matter what Yahoo or OATH do to your account or any data in your account, they will not be held liable. And if there is any dispute between you and the company, you will be FORCED into arbitration, and forced to accept the arbitrator's decision. Your chances as a consumer for winning an arbitrated dispute resemble the set of numbers less than zero.

I don't understand how examples such as Yahoo are "good" or "bad".

The terms and conditions seem fairly laid out and transparent. It seems to be worded for a 5th or 6th grade English reading level.

They seem clear and concise. I can't imagine any better content for average users.

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