Hands up everyone who actually reads the End User License Agreements when they start using a new piece of software or a new website. Anyone? No? Me neither. But Cullen Hoback's Slamdance selected documentary
Terms And Conditions May Apply may make you rethink that.
A Facebook post sends a SWAT team to a New York comedian's apartment;
the AOL search results of television writer fit the profile of a serial
killer. Privacy is at the heart of Cullen Hoback's riveting documentary:
how we give it away, and how it is taken from us. The "terms and
conditions" of software contracts map a journey through the brave new
world we have unwittingly opted in to. Wiretapping, surveillance,
prosecution of thought crimes, and the data mining of our computer, GPS,
and telephone records are shown to have become legally enshrined.
Hoback's deft editing takes us through an impressive collection of
conversations, including Moby, Margaret Atwood, Ray Kurzweil, Mark
Zuckerberg, and Anonymous hacktivist Barret Brown. Indicting governments
and corporate interests for the commodification of our private lives,
Terms And Conditions May Apply urges us to push back.
We're proud to premiere a pair of clips from the film below. Take a look and remember that if Big Brother is watching it's because you gave him permission.