The company should offer terms of service that are easy to find and easy to understand.
A company’s terms of service outline the relationship between the user and the company. The terms contain rules for what activities and content users are permitted to engage in and share on a company’s services, as such these terms directly impact if and how users can exercise their freedom of expression rights. Companies can also take action against users for violating the conditions described in the terms. Given this, we expect companies to ensure that users can easily locate these terms and understand what they mean.
We expect a company to take steps to help users understand the information presented in their documents. This includes, but is not limited to, providing summaries, tips, or guidance that explain what the terms mean, using section headers, readable font size, or other graphic features to help users understand the document, or writing the terms using readable syntax.
This indicator includes a review of other documents such as “community guidelines” or service-specific rules that further explain to users what the terms mean.
Note: Privacy policies are not included in this indicator since they are covered in separate indicators in the “Privacy” section.
Definition(s):
Terms of Service – This document may also be called Terms of Use, Terms and Conditions, etc. The terms of service “often provide the necessary ground rules for how various online services should be used,” as stated by the EFF, and represent a legal agreement between the company and the user. Companies can take action against users and their content based on information in the terms of service.
Easy to understand / understandable manner – The company has taken steps to help users actually understand the Terms of Service. This includes, but is not limited to, providing summaries, tips, or guidance that explain what the terms mean, using section headers, readable font size, or other graphic features to help users understand the document, or writing the terms using readable syntax.
Potential sources:
Company terms of service, terms of use, terms and conditions, etc.
Company acceptable use policy, community guidelines, rules, etc.