Sometimes we are always in a hurry to check the “Agree to Terms” check box on a website or app, and we fail to read up the terms and conditions to see the implications of what we are about getting ourselves into.

So many people have signed out their properties, their businesses and so many precious things in their life just because they failed to read the terms and conditions while signing up on things.

95% of people online will just check that box without actually reading the terms and conditions. Funny enough they would have skipped it if it were to be skippable. The 5% of people that will reads it are not even doing the right thing per-say, they will end up scanning through the whole passage.

We are living in a world where everybody assumes that every other person is smart and intelligent. Well, Welat was the case when 22,000 people ended up signing up to do 1,000 hrs of community service in exchange for free Wi-Fi. Now, are they smart?

To illustrate the “lack of consumer awareness” of what people when accessing free Wi-Fi portals. Purple, a Public Wi-Fi provider, added a spoof term to its T&Cs on its network of branded hotspots.

The result, 22,000 people, ended up signing up for what they won’t have ordinarily signed up to. In agreeing to the spoof T&Cs stated below on Purple, people unwittingly agreed to a “community service clause.”

THE USER MAY BE BE REQUIRED, AT PURPLE’S DISCRETION, TO CARRY OUT 1,000 HOURS OF COMMUNITY SERVICE. THIS MAY INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING. CLEANSING LOCAL PARKS OF ANIMAL WASTE. PROVIDING HUGS TO STRAY CATS AND DOGS. MANUALLY RELIEVING SEWER BLOCKAGES. CLEANING PORTABLE LAVATORIES AT LOCAL FESTIVALS AND EVENTS. PAINTING SNAIL SHELLS TO BRIGHTEN UP THEIR EXISTENCE. SCRAPING CHEWING GUM OFF THE STREETS.
In two weeks, thousands of people signed up, and only one person was able to spot the prank on the term.

We all need to start reading terms and conditions. I know they are unnecessarily long and wastes valuable time, but don’t in a hurry to click on “agree to terms and conditions” so you can hop into that stuff you are signing up to online, offline or anywhere.

Instead of skipping the T&C you can as well scan through it.

You don’t know what are they agreeing to, how much info you might be sharing and other stuff.

They say human beings learn well through experience, but most of us will prevent bad things if only we can heed to useful advice. Don’t wait until you are among 22,000 people signed to do community service before you learn to read your T&C’s.

Reading T&C’s can save you from a lot of things.

Are you among the 5% that takes the time to scan through T&Cs before agreeing to it? Indicate in the comment box.

Hmmm

That's why they always put it in 'tiny small letters