Let’s say you are having a conversation with your friend via a social media platform, let’s say Facebook messenger, and you are telling this friend about this extremely cool idea you have, let’s say for a new app, a couple days later your friends are raging about this cool new app that is an exact copy of your idea. You later find out Facebook, created the app and is making millions of dollars off of it, they stole your idea. Is this legal? Could be. READ YOUR USER TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF SERIVCE.
Most of the time, no one frankly has the time to read that overly long and detailed terms of service document at the end of user agreements. However, those are important to read because you may be giving up some of your intellectually property rights. Your photos could potentially be owned by a company, and you could of never known. What you post could instantaneously turn into company property. While let’s be real, I hope that Facebook would never disclose your personal information, how would you know if you don’t read to the terms of use page?
On a similar note, whether you knew it or not, the Wi-Fi you are using right now, I assume Penn state’s Wi-Fi named “psu,” is being monitored. Well, not to the point that the “FBI is watching us” but Penn State certainly is, especially if you utilize their Wi-FI. When you are on their Wi-Fi, Penn State has the absolute right to view your phone, laptop, iPad, or any device that uses their resource. Recently, there was a major scandal here at Penn State: students in a communications class were premediating to cheat on a test, they were texting about their plans and when/how it would be carried out. Don’t ask me how but the Penn State academic integrity comities of communications caught the students but immediately they were punished, resulting in a 0 for the test. Is this fair? Does it violate the privacy of students? The answer is no because they were utilizing Penn State’s property. While to some, this rule may be seen as extreme, it is in fact necessary. What if someone planned a school shooting? Wouldn’t you rather be safe than sorry? Especially with the unfortunate normalcy of school shootings these days, it simply serves as another form of protection, which I think is a positive thing.
Taking that time to read the terms of service can go a long way, it may be tedious but I recommend taking the time. You may learn that what you potentially post could have consequences. You mayalso learn not to conspire a cheating inquiry on a school’s Wi-Fi. These things have become so natural in our environment, we tend to forget the little underlying details that ultimately control our life, that is social media. Since terms and conditions are nonnegotiable, it is important to know what you are signing up for. I doubt you would want your intellectual property stolen, and somecompanies have the power to do so, so read your terms and conditions!
“5 Reasons Why You Need Terms and Conditions.” TermsFeed, 23 Oct. 2016.