Editing Terms of service (section)

==Criticism and lawsuits==

===AOL===
In 1994, the ''Washington Times'' reported that [[America Online]] (AOL) was selling detailed personal information about its subscribers to direct marketers, without notifying or asking its subscribers. That article led to the revision of AOL's terms of service three years later.

On July 1, 1997, AOL posted their revised terms of service to take effect July 31, 1997, without formally notifying its users of the changes made, most notably a new policy which would grant third-party business partners, including a marketing firm, access to its members' telephone numbers. Several days before the changes were to take effect, an AOL member informed the media of the changes and the following news coverage incited a large influx of internet traffic on the AOL page which enabled users to opt out of having their names and numbers on marketing lists.<ref name="AOLd">{{Cite web|first=Janet|last=Kornblum|url=http://news.cnet.com/AOL+dumps+new+member+policy/2100-1023_3-201927.html|title=AOL dumps new member policy|date=1997-07-29|access-date=2006-12-24|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130119152449/http://news.cnet.com/AOL-dumps-new-member-policy/2100-1023_3-201927.html|archive-date=2013-01-19|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Sony===
In 2011, [[George Hotz]] and other members of failOverflow were sued by [[Sony]] Corporation. Sony claimed that Hotz and others had committed [[breach of contract]] by violating the terms of service of the [[PlayStation Network]] and the [[Digital Millennium Copyright Act]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Sony follows up, officially sues Geohot and fail0verflow over PS3 jailbreak|url=https://www.engadget.com/2011-01-12-sony-follows-up-officially-sues-geohot-and-fail0verflow-over-ps.html|access-date=2021-03-06|website=Engadget|date=12 January 2011 |language=en-US}}</ref>

===Instagram===
{{see also|Instagram#Criticism and lawsuits}}
On December 17, 2012, Instagram and Facebook announced a change to their terms of use that caused a widespread outcry from its user base. The controversial clause stated: "you agree that a business or other entity may pay us to display your username, likeness, photos (along with any associated [[metadata]]), and/or actions you take, in connection with paid or sponsored content or promotions, without any compensation to you".

There was no apparent option to opt out of the changed terms of use.<ref>{{cite web |last=Pepitone |first=Julianne |url=https://money.cnn.com/2012/12/18/technology/social/instagram-sell-photos/index.html?iid=s_mpm#comments |work=[[CNN Money (website)|CNNMoney]] |publisher=CNN |title=Instagram can now sell your photos for ads|date=December 18, 2012 |access-date=December 18, 2012}}</ref>
The move garnered severe criticism from privacy advocates as well as consumers. After one day, Instagram apologized, saying that it would remove the controversial language from its terms of use.<ref>{{cite news|last=McCullagh|first=Declan|title=Instagram apologizes to users: We won't sell your photos|url=http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57559890-93/instagram-apologizes-to-users-we-wont-sell-your-photos/|access-date=19 December 2012|newspaper=CNET|date=18 December 2012|author2=Donna Tam}}</ref> [[Kevin Systrom]], a co-founder of Instagram, responded to the controversy, stating:

{{quote|Our intention in updating the terms was to communicate that we’d like to experiment with innovative advertising that feels appropriate on Instagram. Instead, it was interpreted by many that we were going to sell your photos to others without any compensation. This is not true and it is our mistake that this language is confusing. To be clear: it is not our intention to sell your photos. We are working on updated language in the terms to make sure this is clear.<ref name=terms-of-use-retraction>{{cite web |last=Systrom |first=Kevin |url=http://blog.instagram.com/post/38252135408/thank-you-and-were-listening |work=[[Instagram]] |publisher=Instagram |title=Thank you, and we're listening |date=December 18, 2012 |access-date=December 19, 2012 |archive-date=May 2, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170502201402/http://blog.instagram.com/post/38252135408/thank-you-and-were-listening |url-status=dead }}</ref>}}

===Zappos===
Some terms of services are worded to allow unilateral amendment, where one party can change the agreement at any time without the other party's consent. A 2012 court case ''[[In re Zappos.com, Inc., Customer Data Security Breach Litigation]]'' held that [[Zappos.com]]'s terms of use, with one such clause, was unenforceable.<ref name=goldman>{{cite web|last=Goldman|first=Eric|title=How Zappos' User Agreement Failed In Court and Left Zappos Legally Naked|website=[[Forbes]]|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/ericgoldman/2012/10/10/how-zappos-user-agreement-failed-in-court-and-left-zappos-legally-naked/print/|access-date=1 October 2013}}</ref>

===The Walt Disney Company===
On October 5, 2023, a 42-year-old woman named Kanokporn Tangsuan (who worked as a doctor at [[NYU Langone Health]]) was killed at Raglan Road Irish Pub at [[Disney Springs]] in [[Walt Disney World]] after going into anaphylactic shock due to increased levels of dairy and nuts in her system. Her widower, Jeffery Piccolo, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Disney in February 2024, claiming that she had alerted staff to her severe allergy to both multiple times, but was ignored.<ref>{{cite web |title=Long Island doctor died from anaphylaxis after eating at Disney Springs restaurant, lawsuit says|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/disney-world-food-allergy-death-lawsuit-long-island-doctor/|website=CBS News (WCBS-TV) New York|date=March 5, 2024}}</ref> On May 31, Disney filed a motion to get the lawsuit dismissed, citing the terms of service of both the [[MyMagic+|My Disney Experience]] app (which they booked tickets from) and [[Disney+]] (which they had used a free trial of in the past). This term would require all legal disputes against Disney and its affiliates to be held in an [[AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion#Significance|individual binding arbitration]].<ref name="TVerge">{{Cite web |last=Roth |first=Emma |date=2024-08-14 |title=Disney wants to dismiss a wrongful death lawsuit because of a Disney Plus agreement |url=https://www.theverge.com/2024/8/14/24220228/disney-wrongful-death-lawsuit-subscription-terms |access-date=2024-08-15 |website=The Verge |language=en}}</ref> The story's publicization in August 2024 prompted severe backlash against the Walt Disney Company, with many moving to cancel their subscriptions to Disney+ and for a boycott of other Disney products and services. Piccolo's legal team also argued against Disney's claims, first stating that the terms of service on both platforms were "effectively invisible", and that Piccolo "would have had no notice" of the conditions. They also argued that Piccolo's use of these services should have no effect on Tangsaun's right to be represented in this case.<ref name="TVerge"/><ref>{{Cite web |last=Guynn |first=Jessica |title=Disney wrongful death lawsuit over allergy highlights danger of fine print |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2024/08/15/disney-wrongful-death-lawsuit-arbitration/74805949007/ |access-date=2024-08-15 |website=USA TODAY |language=en-US}}</ref> Disney responded by claiming to be "deeply sorry" of the death, and that they were only defending themselves against a lawsuit towards the entire corporation.<ref name ="GGG">{{Cite news |last=Betts |first=Anna |date=2024-08-15 |title=Disney defends use of streaming terms to block restaurant allergy death lawsuit |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/article/2024/aug/15/disney-wrongful-death-lawsuit-dismissal |access-date=2024-08-15 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> The motion for the dismissal of the case was later withdrawn by Disney on August 20, 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-08-20 |title=Disney drops bid to have allergy-death lawsuit tossed because plaintiff signed up for Disney+ |url=https://apnews.com/article/disney-allergy-death-lawsuit-b66cd07c6be2497bf5f6bce2d1f2e8d1 |access-date=2024-10-06 |website=AP News |language=en}}</ref>