Who reads the Terms of Service anyway..

We do!

A while ago I made a rather cryptic blog post asking for any information regarding a communication that had been sent from Asbestos Towers to Local Authorities, this is the communication highlighted by Charles in the Guardian yesterday.

As the Guardian article points out the Paleotards was unhappy with local authorities signing up to the Google Maps API terms of service as it required giving all your data to Google and the users of Google maps based sites.

If I had ever worked at Ordnance Survey, say at a high level position, I would have stopped their patronising and Orwellian views on data ownership but happily I've only ever worked at non-Evil companies like Google.

Lets dig in to that license:

11. Licenses from You to Google.

11.1 Content License

(a) You retain copyright and any other rights you already hold in Your Content. By submitting, posting or displaying Your Content you give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute Your Content. This license is for the purpose of enabling Google to display, distribute and promote the Service.

This part says we own all your data. Thanks.

(b) You give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to access, reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute business listings data contained in Maps API Implementations. For example, if you create a store locator application, Google may use the business listings information from the store locator to improve the Google Services such as Google Maps and local search.

This part says that we own all your other data too. Thanks.

Really useful I think..

(c) You agree that this license includes a right for Google to make Your Content available to other companies, organizations or individuals with whom Google has relationships for the provision of syndicated services, and to use such Content in connection with the provision of those services.

This part means we really, really, really own all your data and we can do what the fuck we want with it. Thanks.

(d) You understand and agree that Google, in performing the required technical steps to provide the Service to our users, may do the following:

(i) transmit or distribute your Content over various public networks and in various media; and

(ii) make such changes to your Content as are necessary to conform and adapt that Content to the technical requirements of connecting networks, devices, services or media.

Oh yeah - sorry. We own all your data and we can also fuck with it/modify it and beam it to the moon base if we want. Thanks.

11.2 Brand Features License. You grant to Google a nontransferable, nonexclusive license during the Term to use Your Brand Features to advertise that you are using the Service.

Not only do we own all your data, we also own your trademarks, your logo and your fucking pet cat. Thanks.

11.3 Authority to Grant Licenses. You confirm and warrant to Google that you have all the rights, power and authority necessary to grant the above licenses.

Oh and just in case you can't actually give us any of this stuff because it's owned by someone like, I don't know, the Ordnance Survey then we still own it and you imdemnify us if they ever grow a pair and fight like a man. Thanks.