what am I signing?

What am I agreeing to in these terms of service?

Nobody reads them. These are the parts that actually change what happens to you.

Paste yours and see what stands outFree. No account. It points at clauses — it never tells you something is safe to sign.

What it looks for

Terms of service are written to be skipped, and the length is part of that. But only a handful of clauses in a typical document actually change your position, and they recur across almost every service.

Forced arbitration with a class action waiver is the most consequential. It means that if the company wrongs you and a million other people in the same small way, you cannot join together — each of you must arbitrate alone, which for a fifty-pound loss nobody will ever do. It converts a systemic problem into an individually unaffordable one. That is the point of it.

Automatic renewal is the one that costs money quietly, especially when combined with a clause permitting renewal at the current list price rather than the price you agreed. A subscription bought on an introductory offer can renew at several times what you were paying, and the notice window for cancelling is often narrower than people expect.

Content licences matter to anyone who uploads anything they made. "Perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide" is standard phrasing and mostly exists so the service can technically operate — but the same phrasing also permits far more than that, and it does not expire when you delete your account.

Related questions

Signing something else?

This is a reading aid, not legal advice. For anything that decides the next few years of your life, talk to someone qualified.