net303 policy primer

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Exporing the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy of meetup.com ~ Presented by Anna Maria Alba

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Page 1: Net303 Policy Primer

Let’s…

Page 2: Net303 Policy Primer

Photo courtesy of International Friends in Sydney (Meetup, 2012).

Page 3: Net303 Policy Primer

Exploring the

Terms of Service & Privacy Policyof

POLICY PRIMER presented by Anna Maria AlbaNET303 Internet Politics & Power, Curtin University of Technology

.com

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Exploring the

Terms of Service & Privacy Policy of

POLICY PRIMER presented by Anna Maria AlbaNET303 Internet Politics & Power, Curtin University of Technology

What is meetup?

It's an online platform which provides people with the opportunity to use a variety of resources to facilitate organizing of groups like meetup events or social networks (Meetup, 2012).

.com

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POLICY PRIMER presented by Anna Maria AlbaNET303 Internet Politics & Power, Curtin University of Technology

What's so great about meetup?

“Meetup is the world's largest network of local groups. Meetup makes it easy for anyone to organize a local group or find one of the thousands already meeting up face-to-face” (Meetup, 2012).

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Terms of Service & Privacy Policy of .com

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POLICY PRIMER presented by Anna Maria AlbaNET303 Internet Politics & Power, Curtin University of Technology

Some of the benefits of meetup…

• It’s user friendly• Free to join groups• Organisers pay a small fee to run a group

• Event photos can be uploaded

• Links can be added to social media channels

• A message board feature is included to manage community discussions

• Online support is available

Exploring the

Terms of Service & Privacy Policy of .com

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POLICY PRIMER presented by Anna Maria AlbaNET303 Internet Politics & Power, Curtin University of Technology

BUTBEWARE !

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Terms of Service & Privacy Policy of .com

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POLICY PRIMER presented by Anna Maria AlbaNET303 Internet Politics & Power, Curtin University of Technology

Did you know…

that the use of meetup puts you at risk to issues such as privacy, surveillance, copyright and content ownership

?

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Terms of Service & Privacy Policy of .com

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POLICY PRIMER presented by Anna Maria AlbaNET303 Internet Politics & Power, Curtin University of Technology

You didn’t know?

That’s probably because you failed to read the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy when you signed up!

Exploring the

Terms of Service & Privacy Policy of .com

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POLICY PRIMER presented by Anna Maria AlbaNET303 Internet Politics & Power, Curtin University of Technology

The Terms of Service (TOS) is a legally binding agreement which consists of a set of rules which must be observed in order to use a service (PC Mag, 2012) whereas a privacy policy declares how information is collected and released about a visitor (Business Dictionary, 2012). Often this information is difficult to understand and may be misleading or ambiguous. This presentation will simplify terms and highlight some important issues to consider.

Exploring the

Terms of Service & Privacy Policy of .com

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It is important to be aware that as Meetup is a public website, programs such as search engines, metasearch tools and crawlers can access your public information! If you use your full name for example, search engines will pick it up and display it (Meetup, 2010a).

POLICY PRIMER presented by Anna Maria AlbaNET303 Internet Politics & Power, Curtin University of Technology

!

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Terms of Service & Privacy Policy of .com

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In regards to the information you provide, meetup states that

“You should understand that information you provide through the registration process or post to the public areas of our website, or through the use of our Platform (including your name (if provided) and location information) may be accessible by and made public through syndication programs and by search engines, metasearch tools, crawlers, metacrawlers and other similar programs” (Meetup, 2010b).

POLICY PRIMER presented by Anna Maria AlbaNET303 Internet Politics & Power, Curtin University of Technology

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Terms of Service & Privacy Policy of .com

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Does this mean that even details provided as part of the registration process including personal details and credit card information “may be accessible and made public” ?

POLICY PRIMER presented by Anna Maria AlbaNET303 Internet Politics & Power, Curtin University of Technology

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Terms of Service & Privacy Policy of .com

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Meetup also states in their privacy policy that they automatically track your ‘basic information’ such as IP address, browser type, ISP and your behaviour patterns! Meetup claims that they use this information to improve their services for you (Meetup, 2010b).

POLICY PRIMER presented by Anna Maria AlbaNET303 Internet Politics & Power, Curtin University of Technology

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Terms of Service & Privacy Policy of .com

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This means that technical information you may be unaware of as well your actions online are recorded! Aren’t you worried that you are being watched ? This raises issues related to surveillance and lack of privacy!

POLICY PRIMER presented by Anna Maria AlbaNET303 Internet Politics & Power, Curtin University of Technology

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Terms of Service & Privacy Policy of .com

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Individual search histories are associated with users' identities which means that information regarding our personal lives are not private! (Eckersley et al., 2006). This raises the concern of personal safety and can also lead to identity theft! (Albrechtslund, 2008)

POLICY PRIMER presented by Anna Maria AlbaNET303 Internet Politics & Power, Curtin University of Technology

!

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!Did you know that meetup includes default settings which cater to their business needs so that they can easily collect information about you? Users are often unaware of default account settings when they sign up to a network (Christiana and Goettke, 2007).

POLICY PRIMER presented by Anna Maria AlbaNET303 Internet Politics & Power, Curtin University of Technology

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For example, meetup states in their privacy policy that their analytics tools search for 'cookies' which contains information about you. If you are aware of this you can choose to opt out by altering the default settings so that your cookie information is not searched! (Meetup, 2010b).

POLICY PRIMER presented by Anna Maria AlbaNET303 Internet Politics & Power, Curtin University of Technology

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Terms of Service & Privacy Policy of .com

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So… In order to protect your information it is your responsibility to understand how to access and change privacy settings offered by social networking sites! (Christiana and Goettke, 2007).

POLICY PRIMER presented by Anna Maria AlbaNET303 Internet Politics & Power, Curtin University of Technology

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Terms of Service & Privacy Policy of .com

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In regards to your account password, meetup states in their TOS that

“You agree to immediately notify us of any unauthorized use of your password or any other breach of security. You agree that Meetup cannot and will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from your failure to comply with this” (Meetup, 2010a).

POLICY PRIMER presented by Anna Maria AlbaNET303 Internet Politics & Power, Curtin University of Technology

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How can you be aware of breaches of security? How about in the case that your meetup account gets hacked? It may not always be obvious to you. How can you be sure that your information is secure?

POLICY PRIMER presented by Anna Maria AlbaNET303 Internet Politics & Power, Curtin University of Technology

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Terms of Service & Privacy Policy of .com

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Meetup states “We may use for promotional, sales or any use that we consider appropriate your correspondence with us or photographs submitted for publication on our website, be it via email, postings on our website, or feedback via the member polls” (Meetup, 2010b).

POLICY PRIMER presented by Anna Maria AlbaNET303 Internet Politics & Power, Curtin University of Technology

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Terms of Service & Privacy Policy of .com

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Does that mean that you have no rights to copyright, content ownership and privacy? and…in the case that content is posted to a meetup group by a group member, who owns the content and who has rights to copyright? The group member, the organiser or meetup? The TOS and privacy policy don’t explain this!

POLICY PRIMER presented by Anna Maria AlbaNET303 Internet Politics & Power, Curtin University of Technology

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Terms of Service & Privacy Policy of .com

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Many online users lack awareness regarding social networking sites and online privacy potentially putting themselves in danger! (Christiana and Goettke, 2007).

POLICY PRIMER presented by Anna Maria AlbaNET303 Internet Politics & Power, Curtin University of Technology

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Did you know that meetup does not have a backup system in place for you to protect your data? Meetup states in their privacy policy “We do not guarantee continuous, uninterrupted or secure access to our Platform, and operation of our website may be interfered with by numerous factors outside of our control. You agree that we have no responsibility or liability for the storage or the deletion of,

or the failure to store or delete, any of Your Information” (Meetup, 2010b).

POLICY PRIMER presented by Anna Maria AlbaNET303 Internet Politics & Power, Curtin University of Technology

!

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Meetup also states that they “Reserve the right at any time or times to modify or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, all or any portion of our Platform with or without notice. You agree that we shall not be liable to you or to any third party for any modification, suspension or termination of our Platform” (Meetup, 2010b).

POLICY PRIMER presented by Anna Maria AlbaNET303 Internet Politics & Power, Curtin University of Technology

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This means that all data accumalated as part of your social network including all member contact information could disappear from one day to another! Therefore, you will need to find a way to backup all your data as it is your responsibility!

POLICY PRIMER presented by Anna Maria AlbaNET303 Internet Politics & Power, Curtin University of Technology

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Terms of Service & Privacy Policy of .com

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Meetup also states as part of their privacy policy that your information is never completely removed from their database including backup systems due to technical and legal contraints (Meetup, 2010b). So… this means that even if you terminate the service, they keep a record of your information!

POLICY PRIMER presented by Anna Maria AlbaNET303 Internet Politics & Power, Curtin University of Technology

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Terms of Service & Privacy Policy of .com

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How about in the case that Meetup changes ownership? How can you be sure that another party will not use your information for their benefit?

POLICY PRIMER presented by Anna Maria AlbaNET303 Internet Politics & Power, Curtin University of Technology

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Lastly, meetup explains in their privacy policy that they may change features to their service at any time including fee rates and will post information regarding changes on the website however only in some cases will users be notified by email! (Meetup, 2010b)

POLICY PRIMER presented by Anna Maria AlbaNET303 Internet Politics & Power, Curtin University of Technology

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Terms of Service & Privacy Policy of .com

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Meetup states that “It is your responsibility to review the most recent version of the Agreement frequently and remain informed about any changes to it. By continuing to use the Platform, you consent to any updates to this Agreement” (Meetup, 2010a).

POLICY PRIMER presented by Anna Maria AlbaNET303 Internet Politics & Power, Curtin University of Technology

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So…this means that you could easily breach their conditions and put yourself at risk if you miss out on important updated information included in the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy if you don’t continuously…

POLICY PRIMER presented by Anna Maria AlbaNET303 Internet Politics & Power, Curtin University of Technology

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Terms of Service & Privacy Policy of .com

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POLICY PRIMER presented by Anna Maria AlbaNET303 Internet Politics & Power, Curtin University of Technology

BEWARE !

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Thankyou for your attention!

POLICY PRIMER presented by Anna Maria AlbaNET303 Internet Politics & Power, Curtin University of Technology

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ReferencesAlbrechtslund, Anders. (2008). Online Social Networking as Participatory Surveillance. First Monday.

Retrieved from http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2142/1949

Australian Copyright Council. (2012). Fair Dealing. Retrieved from http://www.copyright.org.au

Business Dictionary. (2012). Privacy Policy. Retrieved from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/privacy-policy.html

Christiana, J. & Goettke, R. (2007). Privacy and Online Social Networking Websites. Retrieved from http://www.eecs.harvard.edu/cs199r/fp/RichJoe.pdf

Eckersley, P., Schoen, S., Bankston, K., & Slater, D. (2006, September 14). Six Tips to Protect Your Search Privacy. Electronic Frontier Foundation. Retrieved from https://www.eff.org/wp/six-tips-protect-your-search-privacy

PC Mag. (2012). Definition of terms of service. Retrieved from http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia_term/0,1237,t=terms+of+service&i=62682,00.asp

Meetup. (2010a). Meetup Terms of Service Agreement. Retrieved from http://www.meetup.com/terms/

Meetup. (2010b). Privacy Policy Statement. Retrieved from http://www.meetup.com/privacy/

Meetup. (2012). About Meetup. Retrieved from http://www.meetup.com/about/

POLICY PRIMER presented by Anna Maria AlbaNET303 Internet Politics & Power, Curtin University of Technology

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Image creditsConfused image face

Freepik. (2011). Vector images. Retrieved from http://www.freepik.com

International Friends meetup group photoMeetup. (2012). International Friends in Sydney. Retrieved from http://www.meetup.com/intlfriends

Meetup logo

Meetup. (2012). About Meetup. Retrieved from http://www.meetup.com/about

Permission has been granted by Meetup.com to use their logo as part of this project. The meetup group photo on slide 2 is my own photo which I had taken as part of my International Friends meetup event. All other materials used as part of this presentation are sourced from the public domain and free of copyright restrictions.

This presentation is also protected by the Australian Fair Dealing copyright law for 'research and study' (Austrailan Copyright Council, 2012).

This work Is licenced under a creative commons Attribution-NoDerivs CC BY-ND licence.

POLICY PRIMER presented by Anna Maria AlbaNET303 Internet Politics & Power, Curtin University of Technology