...liar
“Read the fine print”–whoever first uttered these words of wisdom was clearly not familiar with privacy policies and their terms and conditions.
You know what I’m talking about, all that small print (in that endlessly scrolling window) right above that box you have to check so you can complete your purchase on Amazon, finalize your Gmail account, and otherwise consign your life to the Internet cloud.
Really, who has the time to read it anyway? Apparently no one, and there’s statistical evidence that proves it.
Way back in 2008 (so it’s four-year old statistical evidence, who’s counting?) it was calculated (by two researchers at Carnegie Mellon, who were in fact counting. Question answered) that with an average of 2,518 words each (ten minutes a piece), and an assumed 1,462 documents a year, it would take the average person 76 days to read all of the privacy policies they encounter per year.
Something tells me the people who write them know that. Not that the documents don’t scream, charming way to spend an afternoon. I don’t know about you, but I can’t count the number of times I’ve wished I had more time to read all about the terms and conditions of my Facebook account.
Sure there may be hidden clauses about file-sharing, privacy, and the right they have to what you post on your timeline, but what really matters is that it’s buried in the middle of an intentionally tedious document that they hope you pass over.
I will say this for us, when it comes to terms and conditions, and long boring documents, we are a very agreeable lot.
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“Reading the Privacy Policies You Encounter in a Year Would Take 76 Work Days”: The Atlantic
…bi-daily smile…
when wasting time, it’s important to make it count…you’re welcome:
