According to statistics published by USA Today, over 90% of people blindly click “I agree” on terms and conditions and privacy policies of websites without ever opening or reading the document.
This is very different from how we treat traditional contracts. For example, when we receive a contract via email, we usually read it with great attention and sometimes even ask advice from our parents or from a lawyer. Online, however, this habit is almost completely absent.
Why This Habit Can Be Risky
Not reading terms and conditions can have negative consequences. Over the years, companies have been able to introduce unbalanced conditions that protect themselves and disadvantage the user. Examples include:
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Broad disclaimers of liability.
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Strict refund policies.
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Legal permission to sell personal data to third parties or data brokers.
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Practices that can directly or indirectly encourage harmful behaviours such as digital redlining, doxxing, or spam.
So why don’t we apply the same level of scrutiny to online contracts as we do to traditional ones?
The truth is that today most services are provided online, and the digital contract has completely substituted the traditional one. Reading it before accepting would allow us to exercise our rights, choose a different provider when necessary, and even react in legal situations or negotiate the conditions. There are also many practical benefits: you could find out how to request a refund, how to delete your account, or how to opt out of data sharing and many more, specific to the service supplied. We will follow up with a dedicated article to explore these points further.
The Challenge: Time and Legal Jargon
The main reason people don’t read terms is simple: they are long, written in complex legal jargon, and often hidden at the bottom of a page. Reading them takes time, patience, and in many cases a legal background that most users don’t have.
A Tool to Help: Termzy AI
To solve this problem, we developed Termzy AI, an AI-powered browser extension that does the work for you. In just a few seconds it:
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Scans the website to find the links to the terms and privacy policies.
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Analyzes and evaluates the documents with AI.
It basically shows you, in plain language, what you are about to accept.
The extension also evaluates each policy across four clear indicators:
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User Data Protection – How well the document explains, limits, and safeguards the use of your personal data (location, biometrics, payment info, etc.).
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Legal Compliance – Whether the document follows privacy laws such as GDPR or CCPA, and whether your rights are clearly presented.
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Transparency and Readability – How understandable the policy is for a non-lawyer, including the structure, use of plain language, and disclosure of risks.
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Balance and Fairness – Whether the document avoids one-sided terms and provides reasonable rights and options to the user.
How to Start
The extension can be easily installed on your browser via this link.
Of course, Termzy AI cannot replace official legal advice, but it can help you save time and give you a much clearer idea of what you are signing.
If you need more information or help with the technical installation, please visit this page. And if you are curious about the story of how the extension was created, you can find more details in the press releases section of our blog.
AI for Good
We see Termzy AI as a meaningful example of AI for Good. Since AI is now widely available, why not use it to make our daily lives easier, in an ethical way?
So next time you’re about to click “I agree” without thinking, stop. With Termzy AI, you can finally understand what you are really accepting.