Why Read Terms and Conditions?
As educators, we need to make decisions with an informed moral conscience. This means that when we use digital tools with our students, we understand the agreements that we are entering them into with other entities (like corporations).
Thinking creatively and reflectively and evaluating these terms and privacy policies in light of the common good should be kept in mind when using digital tools, applications and websites with our students. We have developed a tool that will help you to critically rate an application’s privacy policy.
What Should I Look for When Reading Terms of Service and Privacy Policies?
It is important for us to know, understand, and follow the Terms and Privacy Policy that we agree to before we begin using an application, website or service – lest we become discouraged later on.
It is important to read both the “Terms” (Terms and Conditions, Terms and Agreements, Terms of Agreement, Terms of Service, Terms of Use, etc.) and the “Privacy Policy” (Privacy, Privacy Details, Digital Privacy, Data Policies, etc.) when using a new technology application, website or service.
The “Terms” usually outline your responsibilities and the website’s/application’s/business’/service’s responsibilities regarding the use of the application/website/service.
The “Privacy Policy” will usually outline how confidential personal information will be kept as well as the ways that the business/service will collect, store and use the personal and non-personal data that they gather from the client.
Here are some considerations that should be made when reading both “Terms” and “Privacy Policies”. Click the arrows in the bottom right corner to navigate the slides.
Digital Tool, Application, or Website ChecklistUse the checklist below to see how your digital tools, applications or websites stack up in terms of risk of use. This checklist is only a reminder of questions to ask and does not provide a definitive statement about the safety of your tool, app or website. It is only a resource that you can use to help you in your inquiry into a tool’s usability and value to your students’ learning. As usual, we are not liable for any decisions that you make and you should always use common sense and your school board’s policies when making decisions about the tools, applications and websites you use in your course. |
 Final Thoughts:
Once we have accepted terms of any contract, we lose our right to grumble about their fairness for we accepted them freely, and of our own accord. The same is true of the terms and conditions of websites and applications. When we accept the terms of Facebook or Khan Academy, we forfeit our right to claim we have been treated unjustly. For this reason, we need to take a good look at the terms before we agree to them – especially if we plan to use them with data that belongs to our students. |