<story><title>My Phone Was Spying on Me, So I Tracked Down the Surveillants</title><url>https://twitter.com/martingund/status/1334465877153095680</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>bjarneh</author><text>&amp;gt; “I agree,” I pressed. We had now made a binding agreement, the app and I.&lt;p&gt;I hate this whole premise. We &lt;i&gt;have to agree&lt;/i&gt; to an incomprehensible text wall of vague legal nonsense, that very often violate our own laws (as in this case), in order to install an app.&lt;p&gt;These illegal contracts are completely void of any meaning, and it should not matter that you &amp;quot;agreed&amp;quot; to be screwed over like that. Being screwed over like this is illegal, so those who do this, should not stay safe just because you clicked &amp;quot;I agree&amp;quot;.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>MaxBarraclough</author><text>&amp;gt; Being screwed over like this is illegal&lt;p&gt;More precisely, these agreements generally aren&amp;#x27;t legally binding in Europe, but generally are legally binding in the US.</text></comment>
<story><title>My Phone Was Spying on Me, So I Tracked Down the Surveillants</title><url>https://twitter.com/martingund/status/1334465877153095680</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>bjarneh</author><text>&amp;gt; “I agree,” I pressed. We had now made a binding agreement, the app and I.&lt;p&gt;I hate this whole premise. We &lt;i&gt;have to agree&lt;/i&gt; to an incomprehensible text wall of vague legal nonsense, that very often violate our own laws (as in this case), in order to install an app.&lt;p&gt;These illegal contracts are completely void of any meaning, and it should not matter that you &amp;quot;agreed&amp;quot; to be screwed over like that. Being screwed over like this is illegal, so those who do this, should not stay safe just because you clicked &amp;quot;I agree&amp;quot;.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>dalbasal</author><text>As people, we like to think categorically... especially &amp;quot;contracting&amp;quot; in the philosophical and legal sense. Whether its a medieval oath or a standard employment contract, the concept of &amp;quot;binding agreement&amp;quot;  sorts out moral issues of consent and creates a platform for further relations.&lt;p&gt;Reality is generally less fussy about categorical boundaries. It likes spectrum. Linnaean classification is an approximation. Biology isn&amp;#x27;t strict about species, or even organism barriers. It&amp;#x27;s the same with a lot of cultural stuff.&lt;p&gt;On one end of the spectrum, we can have a business agreement negotiated diligently and in good faith between equal partners. On the other end, we have take-it-or-leave it agreements: The T&amp;amp;Cs stack a bank hands you when you take a loan. The wall of incomprehensible legalese we consent to when we use an app or website. An employment contract is somewhere on that spectrum. Employees may be able to submit &amp;quot;red line corrections&amp;quot; depending on their seniority and confidence, but generally its written by employers and treated as under their control.&lt;p&gt;In philosophy, contracts (including rhetorical ones like &amp;quot;moral contracts) are a popular mechanism for problem solving. They certainly are in law. In normal human life, norms are much more common.</text></comment>