It’s a universally known truth that almost no one reads the lengthy and often boring terms of service agreement while signing up for a new service. This is exactly why most tech companies get away with predatory fine prints that often compromise the user’s privacy and personal data. In an attempt to simplify the complex terms agreement for the average user, Democrats and Republicans have introduced a “TLDR” bill that aims to make it mandatory for companies to offer a summary of their terms.
Aptly named TLDR, the term stands for “Terms-of-service Labeling, Design, and Readability Act” and is possibly a clever wordplay on the internet slang “Too Long’ Didn’t Read”. The bipartisan bill wants companies to include a nutrition label-style summary table at the top of their terms of service. Furthermore, companies should use XML tags to tag the full terms-of-service contracts. This makes it easier for users to access them faster and analyze differences.
“Users should not have to comb through pages of legal jargon in a website’s terms of services to know how their data will be used,” said Senator Bill Cassidy. “Requiring companies to provide an easy-to-understand summary of their terms should be mandatory and is long overdue,” he added.
