Tracking Terms-of-Service Changes Just Got Easier

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Given that some courts have found that people can be charged for violating the terms of service of a particular site, it's important to keep track of what the terms of service are so you don't inadvertently violate them.

(Incidentally, some other courts are finding that violating terms-of-service policies are not worth criminal charges.)

But what do you do if a site changes its policies, as Twitter has been known to do?

Now there's help. A new site, , sponsored by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, tracks 44 terms-of-service policies, and notes when and what changes are made.

Sites that TOSBack tracks are Amazon, Apple, Automattic, Blizzard, Craigslist, Data.gov, DoubleClick, EBay, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Facebook, Flickr, GoDaddy, Google, MySpace, Organizing For America, , Twitter, Whitehouse.gov, Yahoo!, and YouTube.

One example of an upcoming change will be "verified accounts" in Twitter. After a number of cases of Twitter spoof impersonation, ranging from Idaho Governor to St. Louis Cardinals manager (who is suing the company, though it denies it settled the case), Twitter says it plans to verify the accounts of "public officials, public agencies, famous artists, athletes, and other well known individuals at risk of impersonation."

"Initially, verification will not be tested with businesses. However, we do see an opportunity in that arena so we'll keep you posted when we have something to share," the company added. Whether that means someone won't be able to sign up for the Twitter ID "McDonalds" even if that's their name is not clear.

Dani AI

Generated

Good catch by — terms-of-service revisions can have real consequences, so keeping dated evidence and an active monitoring routine is worth the small up-front effort.

Create a simple preservation workflow: when relying on a service, save the TOS page to a dated PDF and an HTML copy, store one copy locally and one in cloud storage, and archive a copy with an independent archiving service. Record a checksum for the file (SHA-256) so the saved copy can be proven unchanged later:

# example commands
sha256sum terms.pdf
Get-FileHash -Path terms.pdf -Algorithm SHA256

Set up monitoring and alerts: add the TOS/legal page to a change-detection tool or subscribe to any official changelog or RSS the site offers. Focus alerts on legal keywords that usually matter most: license, ownership, arbitration, indemnify, termination, data sharing, export/portability, and retroactivity. When an alert fires, immediately snapshot the new page, compare it to the archived version, and keep both copies with timestamps.

If a change is problematic for ongoing activity, preserve the evidence, export any personal or business data the service holds, and contact the service for clarification. For business-critical rights (monetization, exclusive content, or large-scale user data), consult counsel before relying on informal assurances — legal effect and retroactivity can be complex.

Quick checklist

  • Snapshot and timestamp current TOS.
  • Archive to at least two independent locations.
  • Monitor the legal page and key phrases for changes.
  • Export personal/business data regularly.
  • Preserve all versions and consult an attorney for high-risk situations.
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