Fixing transparency issues: Terms & Conditions for normal people
Finally! Someone has had the bright idea to translate the complicated legislative language into easily understood messages. I know, it’s hard to believe, but it’s true. Maybe they’ve grown to another level of UX; maybe their lawyer was a nice guy, who desperately wanted to be understood; or maybe they started to comply with the new GDPR regulations earlier than everyone else.
According to Article 12 of the GDPR, companies need to communicate information about their legal standards and processes in a way that’s concise; transparent; intelligible; easily accessible; in clear and plain language. Particularly if addressed to a child. Yup, it sounds as if EU almost challenged them on this one:
“If you can’t explain it to a six year old, you don’t understand it yourself.” — Albert Einstein
Without further ado, here’s a few examples of Terms & Conditions, explained in a simple, clear and even amusing way. Watch and learn, digital natives, watch and learn.
Pinterest’s new Privacy Policy and Terms of Service start to apply on May 1, 2018, but they started the information campaign weeks ago. They kept the original content, but added a clarifying paragraph next to each term, trying to avoid any technical or legal wording. Pinterest went as far as adding security tips for their users’ accounts and personal devices.
500px
500px took a very open and honest approach towards their new Terms of Service. They included an additional column which provides a short explanation of the privacy policy and is not legally binding. Certainly clearer and friendlier, however, the judicial information literally remains the small text. And you know what they say about it…
3. Monzo
Disney’s hyper-masculine, attention seeking, child-like character Gaston takes me to example #3 — Monzo’s Terms and Conditions, which were last updated last month. Funny pictures are something one would not expect to see in a serious document, but Monzo managed to cheer up the boring texts by sprinkling emojies here and there. They even encouraged their users to contact them in either English 🇬🇧 or Emoji 😃 via the Monzo app, E-mail, phone or home address.
4. Tumblr
Tumblr’s new Eligibility term in their updated Terms’s of Service is my personal favourite:
You have to be at least 13 years old (or 16 years old if you live in the EEA) to use Tumblr. We’re serious: it’s a hard rule. “But I’m, like, almost old enough!” you plead. Nope, sorry. If you’re younger than 13 (or 16 if you live in the EEA), don’t use Tumblr. Ask your parents for a Playstation 4, or try books.
They understand kids. They also understand that it’s hard for users to keep track of all the new rules that companies apply, so they’ve decided to make it a practice to post old versions so it’s easy to see changes, additions or deletions.
I wish I see more companies think, act and write to their users as if they were close friends — openly, caringly and smilingly. So if you have other examples for such experiences, please share. You will make my day!
