Should You Be Reading the Small Print?

We’ve all been there, you’re downloading a new app, a new piece of software and in the rush to get it installed you just click ‘I have read and agree to all terms and conditions’ without actually reading them.

Don’t worry though as you are not on your own, studies show that only 7% of people read the full terms and conditions when purchasing or downloading something online. So should we be paying more attention to terms and conditions? And just how bad are some of the things that we accidentally sign up to? Well we’ll start with something known as a ‘Herod Clause’...

‘Herod Clause’ Experiment

In 2014 a company named F-Secure set up a free Wi-Fi hotspot in London’s financial district which people could sign up for and use free of charge... or so it seemed. Deep in the terms and conditions lurked the Herod Clause which stated “the recipient agreed to assign their first born child to us for the duration of eternity”, not so free after all.

Are They Legally Binding?

You’ll be glad to hear that no one’s first born child was escorted away by F-Secure and it was merely a stunt to highlight exactly how easily people tick boxes. These terms and conditions that we so readily tick are technically legally binding though, so it would be tough to say that you didn’t read them when you ticked a box that stipulated your understanding.

Is There a Way Around It?

Unfortunately without reading the entire terms and conditions there is no way of knowing what they contain. The best policy is to skim read all of the terms and conditions, the headings should give you a good idea of what they contain. If you spot anything that sounds a little bit odd then give it a good read through and check the full parameters, if it is definitely dodgy then it’s best left alone.

With years of experience providing IT services in London, we have seen our fair share of terms and conditions and the vast majority of them are perfectly benign. We hope that this blog helps you to make sure that you never get caught out by online terms and conditions.

For more information on any of our services simply contact us today and our team will be more than happy to help.