Two communication professors proved what we all pretty much knew: the vast majority of Internet users don't read terms of service (TOS) and policies protectionof privacy (PP), and those that do, don't do it very thoroughly.
Despite this, everyone clicks the button that says "I agree to these terms and conditions."
Η research
To see how many people read these terms of service before subscribing to one online υπηρεσία στο Internet, οι καθηγητές Jonathan Obar από το York University και η Anne Oeldorf-Hirsch από το University of Connecticut created a fictitious social networking site (SNS) called NameDrop:
They invited 543 students to enroll in it, and then asked them to respond to a survey that contained questions about their interaction with privacy and the terms of use of the service.
Both documents were modified versions of LinkedIn, and users would need an estimated 29 to 32 minutes to read the PP and 15 to 17 minutes to read the TOS.
However, the researchers added two additional terms: users had to allow NameDrop to share their data with third parties, including government agencies (eg the NSA), and that they should name the first NameDrop child!
The Results
Here are some of the results of the survey:
74% of participants did not read PP at all and those who "read" it took 73 seconds for PP and 51 seconds for ToS.
96% of participants took less than 5 minutes for PP and 97% took less than 5 minutes for ToS.
Once 15% of participants had concerns about social networking policies. Only 1,7% reported the clause that imposed the name on their child and a 2% expressed their concerns about the shared data.
The participants found the PPs and ToS big and very loud, and many simply do not read them because they are convinced they will not understand them anyway.
The researchers noted that these disheartening results would be even greater if the study were conducted in a different population, as the study participants were schoolchildren of communications, who study Big Data, privacy, surveillance and law and order issues.
It is obvious that the current situation of PP and TOS on the Internet has failed and something should change.
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2757465