Apparently, "I have read the Terms & Conditions" is a common lie told by 92.5% of respondents to the Digital Legacy Project survey. Thankfully, we got you covered! We read the Term & Conditions for Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to help out the combined 3 billion monthly visitors to each platform, and here are the 9 things you missed in the Terms & Conditions.

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1.    You have granted a “non-exclusive, fully paid and royalty-free, transferable, sub-licensable, worldwide license”.

 

This means any of your social networks could use that Christmas photo as a holiday ad, or even sell the picture of your sophomore year keg-stand for 3rd party advertisers to use at their discretion. If you are thinking “no, they have to ask my permission,” yes they do. And you already gave it to them.

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2.    You are trading your information for efficiency.

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While #1 seemed overly critical, you should know that you are also agreeing to the networks ability to improve your user experience. Facebook’s timeline and page suggestions, Twitter’s “Recent Tweets” and Instagram auto tagging features all exist to make sure you have the help you need to seamlessly enjoy what the platform has to offer.

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3.    There is protocol, but not consensus for what happens after death.

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Facebook and Instagram each allow you to memorialize your account or pass it to a loved one with proper proof of death. Twitter does not allow accounts to be taken over or memorialized, but rather deactivates after you haven’t logged in for 6 months.

4.    You can control the ads you see.

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Ever been annoyed by Facebook ads? Especially for something you googled once on a caffeine-induced Internet binge? Well, Facebook and Twitter each allow you to modify the information you provide for advertising purposes.

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5.    Instagram will steal your idea and not lose a second of sleep.

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Under “Rights,” item ten 10 discourages users sending “content, information, ideas, suggestions or other materials” to Instagram. The same sections states if something is sent to them, Instagram may use it indiscriminately without any payments made to you.

 

6.    When your data is moved around, you are just a series of numbers.

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Social media platforms often have data factories in the U.S. and abroad alongside wide networks of collaborators, consultants and partners. That said, that means your data moves around a lot! However, each T & C had language suggesting all the points that would uniquely identify you from anyone else using the platform are omitted when data is shared within and outside the platform.

 

7.    Twitter took the advertising high ground.

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Twitter takes their commitment to giving you control of what you see to a new level. They prevent advertisers from targeting sensitive categories including “race, religion, or politics.” This prevents the “echo chamber” effect present on Facebook.  Bonus: Twitter also allows you to get a list of all accounts that target you for advertising or opt-out of ads altogether.

 

8.    Hiding Location? Yeah… nice try.

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Social media’s ability to know where you are at all times is unnerving. Not to say, making recommendations of events nearby or seeing which of your friends are in a new city cannot be beneficial. Even if you turn off the location on your cell phone, all three can use GPS, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth to pinpoint and archive your location.

 

9.    Twitter and Instagram do not allow selling.

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All too often, there is the story of the little guy who bought a domain name a prominent person would later pay a fortune for. Turns out, there’s a market for that . Unfortunately, the same is not true for Social Media. Twitter and Instagram adamantly oppose selling usernames and Twitter will ensure the trademark/copyright holder gets the username they want.

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