Video Documentary Essay

Video Documentary
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My behavior pattern before watching this video was that I used to go to websites and whenever I found “terms and conditions, I just click the “I agree” button by accepting to comply with the agreements. The terms and conditions are normally created in bulk form, and reading everything is tedious and can take several days. I therefore simply accept them without reading the terms. I used not to be hesitant. I simply agree with the terms and conditions without having a second thought.
First concern is why business organizations write terms and conditions in bulk that users could not read. Firms such as LinkedIn, facebook, and Google are exposed of creating misguiding and poorly-worded terms of service or privacy policies. The language utilized in such lengthy documents enable their publishers to collect the information of the agreeing users as they wish and claim legally offer them to third-party users. Cullen Hoback explains that if an individual intends to read everything in such user/service agreements, this would take the entire one month, which is 180 hours in a year. Statistics show that users lose at least $250 million dollar because of what is hidden in such agreements.
The second concern is that business organizations are engaging in unethical business activities behind the scenes. Language utilized in terms and conditions documents are schemes and thus attract users to skim over their rights. Sentence structures of policy create appealing words without negative connotations. The terms and conditions states that companies may do investigation to prevent or take action concerning illegal activities, but firms can do as they want with the access granting users to click “I agree” button.
The third concern is that it is the government’s role to protect civil liberties and people’s right of privacy. However, corporations not only sell collected consumers’ data to the highest bidders, but also share freely such information with the government. Hoback reveals what corporations and government are legally taking from consumers every day; thus changing the future of civil liberties and privacy uncertain. This disturbing exposure shows how every person has plunged into a real-time surveillance state by clicking websites and agreeing with terms and conditions.
Business concern is the exposure in which some reputed billion dollar corporations are identified engaging in unethical business practices. This may drive away consumers from the market or consumers may resort to other means of getting better services and products elsewhere. Users normally read terms and conditions linked with every website they visit, phone calls they make or apps they download. However on every day basis, multi-billion dollar corporations are learning consumers’ interests, their families and friends, finances, and...