by Susan Burns | Featured Contributor
There has been a lot of discussion on social media about my post on reading fine print when installing apps, specifically focused on the Grammarly app. Some people have responded with the interpretation that Grammarly can only use your content to correct your grammar and not for anything else.
I disagree.
The TOS allow you to keep ownership of your content, BUT they still have an unlimited, perpetual, royalty-free right to use it. I won’t repeat the prior post, but do urge you to read it.
Someone argued that this is just typical SaaS (software as a service) language, and they don’t really mean that they are going to use your content. Really? Then say so in a clearly-drafted, user-friendly contract a/k/a TOS. (Also, that argument doesn’t usually work in Court.)
Others have suggested that because the TOS are typical of SaaS agreements that, somehow, that makes it okay. The TOS may be similar, but the products aren’t. Grammarly, in my experience, crawls through everything you type. Everything.
I don’t choose to give Grammarly access to everything I type. As one person put it, “everything ever typed on the computer, so while it runs in the background, it gathers password, credit card data, shopping habits, text conversations from Facebook, messenger services, anything you do… recorded and stored.”
I am not telling you what to do. But I do want you to be clear in your decision making. One of my major focus points with clients is clarity. Fabulous decisions come from clarity. Make a decision that’s right for you.
I love a great discussion! Keep the comments coming.
Susan Burns
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Susan Burns, Attorney and Business Strategist is the CEO and Founder of Small Business Legal School Ltd.
Susan is a business strategist, attorney, and a champion of big ideas. She believes that a business worth building is a business worth protecting. Her focus is on providing practical legal information to women business owners to support business growth and optimize success. Susan is passionate about leveling the playing field for access to critical legal information that can make or break small businesses.
After 30 years of a diverse background in practicing law — from the largest firm in Minnesota, to in-house general counsel for a global company, and to starting her own firm – and continuously seeing the legal problems that crippled small businesses, Susan decided that there had to be a better way to provide access to critical legal information. She researched, interviewed her clients, surveyed women business owners and then devised a strategy based on survey results. That strategy is Small Business Legal School – teaching women business owners an effective way to support their business success and #CoverYourAssets.
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