Your New Agreement With Google, Chrome Users
When Google released its browser called Chrome this fall, there was an unusually loud controversy about its End User Licensing Agreement (EULA). The company responded quickly to those complaints.
Now the contract with users has been changed again, with a number of sections deleted since yesterday. Chrome's market share is already significant and the company is taking big steps to expand it further - that makes some of these new changes all the more interesting.
The original agreement gave Google sweeping rights to freely reuse any of the content that you sent through its browser, something that raised a lot of eyebrows. Just days after the browser launched, Google removed that section of the text, saying that it was mistakenly included as a part of a "boiler plate" license typical for all Google products!
Now that Chrome has made a surprise early exit from Beta status this week, that transition brought more changes to the contract we make with the company when we use the software. None of those changes are shocking, but since Google is now making moves to promote Chrome over Firefox and a Mac version is in the works, we've highlighted the five most interesting ones below.
You can find the Chrome EULA on this page, but here are the changes made yesterday that we found most noteworthy.
To summarize: children, robots and anonymous people are now welcome, you don't have to worry about keeping your mouth shut and there's no longer a method for terminating your relationship with Google described in the document.
Age Restriction Removed
Did you know that before yesterday you were not allowed to use Chrome if you were not of legal age to enter into a contract with Google? Prohibitions against young people using software are among the most commonly violated terms of service online, but as of today there is no longer any such restrictions on Chrome.
Personal Information No Longer Required
Part of the original Chrome EULA required that you had to give identification or contact information to Google and you were required to keep that information up to date. We're thankful that's no longer required; Google knows more than enough about us already.
Automated Access No Longer Barred
We're very glad that accessing the service through automated means is no longer prohibited. From screen scraping to remote testing - there are a number of important ways that automated access can occur. Only a portion of the traffic on the web these days is human anyway, don't keep the robots from using Chrome too! The new rule is "just don't mess anything up."
No More Google Secrets
Though little more than a formality once the Beta was public, Chrome did require users to acknowledge that there could be Google secrets in the software. Acknowledging that is no longer a requirement, so breathe easy when having Holiday conversations with family about your new browser.
...But You Can Never Leave
As a part of the old Chrome EULA, there we instructions about how to get out of your side of the bargain as well as information about how Google might cancel the agreement. Your out is no longer part of the deal. Closing your account and sending Google a letter is no longer listed as a way to terminate your relationship with Google. But who would want to quit Google? We've grown so close over the years! You couldn't go without Google, even if you wanted to.
Caveats
These changes are interesting to look at and are fodder for important conversation, but we're sure that a trained legal eye would see them very differently than we do. None the less, these are the terms we now agree to when we start accessing the web through Google's browser. We hope the legal-ware treats us as well in the long term as the software seems to so far.
Share
Comments
Subscribe to comments for this post OR Subscribe to comments for all ReadWriteWeb posts
You can always use the open source code for Chromium, the browser that Chrome is based on. You can get the source for windows yourself and compile: http://dev.chromium.org/developers/how-tos/build-instructions-windows
Google /is/ evil.
Their mission is to get you to part with your cash in return for products you don't need.
That. is. evil.
It's evil for the world. The are perpetuating a culture of consumerism, advertising, and marketing that has done relatively little in the way of "good" for the world. Instead, it promotes consumption of resources that pollute the environment. The bought a private 737 so their bosses can fly around in comfort.
The Big Auto makers go to congress in their private jets and everyone raises a fuss, yet the company who supposedly offers a reward for green ideas flies around in a private 737? I mean seriously people...
WTF is wrong with you?
Google is also lame. It is full of lame people. And it is lame.
Wake up people.
Big Brother Google is Spyware!
Another reason I block google and you should too.
Way to be a hypocrite, PJ, with your spam link in the signature.
You really think that is my domain? Domain squatters are right up there with google.
Anyone noticed bad link to `making moves to promote Chrome over Firefox'? It leads to Chrome's EULA.
I never felt that Google was particularly evil but these TOS for Chrome are hideous. The early returns on Chrome weren't enough to make me even consider trying it out as a browser given the rights I'd need to give up simply to look at the latest shiny toy.
I don't use Google!
They probably have collected more info on people than any government agency, foreign or domestic. And they think information (copyrighted or not) is theirs to use how they want (books online)?
On the note one mentioned about their jet. LOL Right on, when one founder got married I think he excused Al Gore from flying to the Caribbean since he was picking up his Noble Peace Prize (note: not Science prize) where the founder was 'flying' 600 of his 'closest' friends? Hey, but they don't mean they are to save the earth, we are to live in the dark to save it. :-)
Google does no evil because whatever they do must not be evil. I think that is a more befitting motto for them.
well it's clear that some of you are idiots. in all honesty calling google spyware is completly ignorant and probably built on what others have said, google stores info on prpbably more than a billion users. To think that they target individuals is simply ignorant. and if you think your important enough for google to personally spy on you haha well there you go.
"Google is also lame. It is full of lame people. And it is lame."
I know for a fact that this guy doesn't understand the impact google has had on sofware.
I might still use chrome occasionally but for their spyware update checker. This little 'utility' silently installs itself as a service and phones home regularly whether you happen to be using chrome or not.
Software that checks for updates when it starts up is ok - if it asks before phoning home.
Software that silently phones home with your IP whether chrome is running or not, and not just once a day, but many times a day is spyware. There can be no debate about this. How many times will google release an update more than once a day?
It tracks your IP, and thats all that google wants. They can combine that with the all the other sources of internet activity that google has access to (safebrowsing, google-analytics, search, all the google apps, gmail, ....) Google has a very good idea of most of what you do on the internet.
Come on you guys. Yeah, google has to much power, but it started off unintentionally, because of the brilliance of google as a searching engine.
Why is gmail a succes? Just wonder, what if hotmail shmotmail wasn't so inferior. Hotmail still would have been the primary choice of e-mail server, but it doesn't deliver constant quality.
Same is hopefully going to apply for Chrome. Google delivering a product which outruns the competition by just delivering what the e-community wants; superior quality.
If it means that I and a couple billion other people provide information in return for the previous mentioned products, fine. They will (legally and morally) cross the line when this is shared with other companies and cause me disturbence. Which they haven't..
Anyone noticed bad link to `making moves to promote Chrome over Firefox'? It leads to Chrome's EULA.
Dear Thank you very much for such participation
I never felt that Google was particularly evil but these TOS for Chrome are hideous. The early returns on Chrome weren't enough to make me even consider trying it out as a browser given the rights I'd need to give up simply to look at the latest shiny toy.
Anyone noticed bad link to `making moves to promote Chrome over Firefox'?
forum
It leads to Chrome's EULA.Personally I'm still sticking with Firefox, mainly because of all it's addons. I like what I've seen of Google Chrome, and will probably give it another go once it is out of beta (All Google software comes out of beta eventually, doesn't it? :P)