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A screenshot showing example ratings from ToS;DR
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| URL | tosdr |
|---|---|
| Launched | June 2012; 12 years ago (2012-06)[1] |
| Current status | Active |
Content license | CC BY-SA 3.0[2] |
Terms of Service; Didn't Read (ToS;DR) is a community project that aims to analyze and grade the terms of service (TOS) and privacy policies of major Internet sites and services. Each aspect of a TOS or privacy policy is assessed as positive, negative, or neutral. Services are graded from A (best) to E (worst) once a comprehensive list of cases has been reviewed by volunteer curators.[3][4][5] The project's name is a play on the phrase too long; didn't read.[1]
The project was founded in June 2012 by Hugo Roy, programmer Michiel de Jong, and designer Jan-Christoph Borchardt.[6] It was led by Hugo Roy, when he was a law student,[7] from 2012 to 2015. In 2020, the project was revived with a larger team.
The project offers a browser extension for Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Apple Safari, Mozilla Firefox and Opera, which shows the grade and a short description of the privacy policy if a website is compatible.[8][9]
Several sources of inspiration have been noted for ToS;DR, including Creative Commons' plain English summaries of licenses, EU energy efficiency ratings,[10] and Aza Raskin's Privacy Icons.[citation needed]
