Release Date: July 12th, 2013 (Limited)
Director: Cullen Hoback
MPAA Rating: NR
Film Pulse Score: 7/10
How many times have you gone to a web site or ran a program on your computer that made you accept the terms and conditions before using it? How many times have you then read those terms and conditions in their entirety before clicking the little “accept” button? Odds are, you, like most people, don’t bother looking into the fine print of these documents before signing your life away to these companies without giving it much thought. Cullen Hoback’s documentary Terms and Conditions May Apply takes a look at what these agreements mean, and explores the current state of Internet privacy as a whole.
Through stats, figures, interviews, and a little digging, Hoback shows that the Internet is becoming less and less anonymous, and more and more frightening for those who wish to keep their lives private. Even the most Internet savvy people may not realize how much information is being compiled on them, even if they avoid using social networks like Facebook and Twitter.
The film paints a very disturbing picture of how companies like Google track our every move online, and essentially record everything we do in order to sell us products, record our spending habits, and spy on us for the government. Though some like myself knew this type of thing was happening, it’s still a frightening concept even for people who have nothing to hide.
Though the information contained in the film may be dull to some, Hoback spices it up with animation, funny clips from popular TV shows, and a few more interesting scenes, like when he goes to Mark Zuckerberg’s house to speak with him. Injecting this content into a film that is mostly comprised of talking head interviews and statistics gives it a lighter, more comedic tone, which is refreshing.
The documentary begins with a discussion of the supposedly free services like Facebook and Google, and what they can effectively do with the information they gather on all their users. It discusses the legal jargon used to created confusing and overly long terms and conditions and it explores just how little privacy one really has when using these sites.
As the film progresses, it deviates from just looking at these free providers and gets into “Big Brother” territory by explaining the government’s stance on Internet privacy, as well as the tools at their disposal for watching our every move. This section has some very interesting interviews with individuals who had their doors kicked in by SWAT and Secret Service because of misinterpreted posts on social networking sites.
For those that are already uneasy when it comes to their presence on the net, this film will scare the shit out of them. However, while most will find this information troubling, it probably won’t be enough to make them stop posting duck faces on Instagram, complaining about their boss on Facebook, or texting nudes to someone they’ve known for a week.
