The length of online policy documents means that many people who use Tumblr are unlikely to have read the terms of service that they agreed to upon registration. This policy primer provides a cursory overview of Tumblr's policies, focusing on privacy, freedom of expression, and copyright.

1. Policy Primer
By Alan Hall
NET 303 Internet Politics and Power –Curtin University.
This work is made available under a Creative Commons Licence CC BY-SA
Terms of Service

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4. Tumblris a “free blogging platform and hosting service …” (Duffy, 2011, review, para. 1) that claims to “let you share anything” (Tumblr, 2014a), and in any format that you would like.
In fact, users post, and create content that caters to a wide variety of audiences.
Topics that can be found on Tumblr include, but are not limited to …
Image source:
CC0 Public Domain.
Unsplash(2014).
Alan Hall

5. TRAVEL
Image source:
“Travel” (Tumblr, 2014b).
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6. FOOD
Image source:
“Food” (Tumblr, 2014c).
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7. HOBBIES
Image source:
“Hobbies” (Tumblr, 2014d).
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8. FANDOM
Image source:
“Fandom” (Tumblr, 2014e).
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9. ADULT
Image source:
OpenClips(2013a).
Not Suitable for Work (NSFW)
CC0 Public Domain.
Alan Hall

10. In fact, there exists over 200 million blogs and 90 billion posts on Tumblr(Tumblr, 2014a).
Now, that’s a lot of content people are sharing on Tumblr.
I wonder if they have all read and understood Tumblr’s ‘terms of service’, ‘community guidelines’, and ‘privacy policy’, that they agreed to so that they can use the service?
Image source:
Stuart Frisby(2008).
Image source:
CC0 Public Domain.
geralt(2014a).
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11. Image source:
CC0 Public Domain.
geralt(2014b).
Alan Hall

12. Tumblr states that it only takes 30 seconds to join (Tumblr, 2014f), yet this is only possible if the registrant does not read the policies.
Because…chances are many have not, and without reading the terms of service they cannot be aware of what their rights and responsibilities are, or how their personal data may be used or acquired.
YOU SEE …
… and given that the average person has a reading speed of 200-250 words per minute (ExecuRead, n.d.), and with all three policy documents totalling close to 11,000 words, it would take the average person …
Alan Hall
Image source:
CC0 Public Domain.
30754(2013).

13. and this is without any further analyses of definitions or terms, or even consultation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to understand what it means for them.
Alan Hall
Image source:
CC0 Public Domain.
Monelgonel(2014).
45-55 minutes to read …
It is the length and ubiquity of these policy documents online that cause many people to fling their arms up in despair and rationalise that the possible ramifications of interacting with the site without reading the policies is worth the risk for the time that it saves (McDonald & Cranor, 2008) .

14. “We estimate that reading privacy policies carries costs in time of approximately 201 hours per year … [per person]” (McDonald & Cranor, 2008, p. 565) .
Alan Hall

15. It is the purpose of this policy primer to highlight a few key points regarding the use of Tumblr, with a focus on:
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Privacy
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Freedom of Expression
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Copyright
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16. •
Therefore, to register you must be at least 13 years of age (Tumblr, 2014g).
Since Tumblr is based in the United States…
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It is subject to “U.S. laws and jurisdiction …”(Tumblr, 2014g).
Alan Hall
•
If you are over 13 years of age, then you can only register if you are not legally prevented from doing so (Tumblr, 2014g).
CC0 Public Domain.
Bykst(2014).
AND
Image source:

17. Alan Hall
And when you register you are required to provide Tumblr with…
•
Your first and last name, age, and email address. The information must be accurate, complete, and kept updated during your use of the service (Tumblr, 2014g).
This information requirement may appear negligible, but DID YOU KNOW that Tumblr access and collate data about you through other means:
For example, if you connect your account to a social networking site such as Facebook, Tumblr may get access to all of your personal data that you have made available within that particular network?
CC0 Public Domain.
geralt(2013).
Image source:

18. Furthermore to use Tumblr, you must allow them to install cookieson your computer, that is, text-files that will enable them to monitor your online behaviour (Chaffey & Ellis-Chadwick, 2012, p. 653)
These services include, but are not limited to Google Analytics and Yahoo Web Analytics which may also put their own cookies onto your computer to collate data (Tumblr, 2014h).
CC0 Public Domain.
Image source: Nemo(2014a).
Alan Hall
… and “If you disable cookies, you won’t be able to log into your Account, and so won’t be able to use the vast majority of our services” (Tumblr, 2014h).

19. Whilst cookies do have a positive benefit, such as recognising a visitor and providing a personally tailored experience, the data can also be easily obtained by anyone who knows how to access the cookie text file on a computer hard drive ( Hormozi, 2005, p. 7) which puts personal data at risk.
The vagueness of which services in fact will place cookies is deeply concerning, because one cannot be sure of who is monitoring their online activities, what personal data is being collected, and how their data is being used. Additionally, as these cookies are not subject to Tumblr’s Privacy Policy a user is inadequately informed to effectively manage their privacy.
Alan Hall
CC0 Public Domain.
Image source: OpenClips(2013b).

20. Alan Hall
Tumblr states that this is to improve the overall service experience for the user (Tumblr, 2014h), but the user is not provided with an option to opt-outof such data aggregation.
Instead a user is forcedto either accept the data aggregation, or not use the service.
It is this lack of powerthat a user has to control their personal data that is unsettling.
CC0 Public Domain.
Image source: parameciorecords(2014).
Tumblr also acquires data relating to your web browser, your mobile phone if you access Tumblr with it, IP address that displays your approximate geographic location, and information that is attached to images such as EXIF content, and may share this information with third-parties (Tumblr, 2014h).

21. And should your data be compromised due to occurrences such as an error on their end, hardware failure, or the server is hacked then Tumblr restricts their liability to the greater of $100 or the cost of your subscription (Tumblr, 2014g).
So, the value of your personal data being released to the world for which you have little control is $100, no matter how damaging such a release of information may be personally.
CC0 Public Domain.
Image source: PublicDomainPictures(2012).
Alan Hall
Because …
Tumblr make no mention as to how they protect user data, only that they take security seriously; but this does not allow a user to make an informed decision about the appropriateness of the security precautions (if any) in place to protect your data.

22. Alan Hall
Furthermore and perhaps most importantly …
Tumblr “… reserve the right to access, preserve, and disclose any information [about a user] that they believe is necessary, in [their] sole discretion” (Tumblr, 2014h) to anyone, government, legal and corporate under the guise of their protection and the protection of others.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2011, p. 103) classify such monitoring as a violation of user right[s] and is a threat to Internet freedom.
This monitoring standard displays a lack of transparency and accountability that can result in self- censorship.
CC0 Public Domain.
Image source: geralt(2014c).

23. •
Malicious Speech.
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Harm to minors.
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Promotion or Glorification of Self-Harm.
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Gore, Mutilation, Bestiality, or Necrophilia.
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UnflaggedNSFW Blogs.
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Unflaggedsexually Explicit Video.
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Non-Genuine Social Gesture Schemes.
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Deceptive or Fraudulent Links.
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Misattribution or Non-Attribution.
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Username/URL Abuse or Squatting.
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Spam.
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Mass Registration or Automation.
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Unauthorized Contests, Sweepstakes, or Giveaways.
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Themes Distributed by Third Parties
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Copyright or Trademark Infringement.
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Confusion or Impersonation.
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Harassment.
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Privacy Violations.
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Disruptions, Exploits, or Resource Abuse.
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Unlawful Uses or content.
Alan Hall
Tumblr encourage freedom of expression
But don’t engage in:
Source: Tumblr (2014i)

24. It’s enough to make your head spin.
Alan Hall
Let’s take a closer look at the restrictions regarding ‘Harm to Minors’;
Harm to Minors. “Don’t post … anything relating to minors that is sexually suggestive or violent” (Tumblr, 2014i).
Superficially, the meaning of this statement may appear straightforward. But it in fact involves a broad categorisation. For we may ask, what about Tumblr Fandom groups built around Manga comics such as ‘Sundome’ that has sexualised images of schoolgirls? Or gifs such as those from the cartoon series ‘South Park’, where the child characters also have a propensity to elicit sexual displays as well as violence?
Technically, these would fail the Tumblr guidelines, yet due to them being on Tumblr it then leads to confusion of what is or isn’t allowed.
CC0 Public Domain.
Image source: Nemo(2012a).

25. Alan Hall
Tumblr “… reserve the right to enforce, or not enforce, [their] guidelines …” (Tumblr, 2014i).
IN FACT
AND
“… suspend accounts, or remove content, without notice, for any reason …”(Tumblr, 2014i) .

26. For example, given that Tumblr are owned by Yahoo!, a potential conflict of interest may arise between what is allowed to remain on the site and what isn’t. Blogs that are, for example, critical of Yahoo! could be removed without notice which then encroaches upon freedom of expression rights (Brown, 2007, p. 8).
Alan Hall
WHICH RAISES
… significant concerns over transparency and accountability issues when removal of content is conducted in secrecy (Villeneuve, 2006 Introduction, para. 8)
CC0 Public Domain.
Image source: Fuzz(2014).
The “… Terms of Service contracts effectively shield the government [and others] from constitutional scrutiny of [their] take-down request” (Fradette, 2013, p. 949)

27. For copyright protection, Tumblr enforces the Digital MilleniumCopyright Act (DCMA).
Alan Hall
NOW LET’S LOOK AT COPYRIGHT
Should an entity, government, corporate or private, notify them that content breaches copyright, then Tumblr will remove it immediately(Tumblr, 2014g).
CC0 Public Domain.
Image source: Nemo(2012b).

28. This is regardless of whether such content does in fact breach copyright!
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29. There have been a number of cases in the past whereby content creators have had their works unfairly claimed under the DMCA on the Web.
Such examples include:
Warner Brothers automatically issuing takedown notices without review of content, which in many cases turned out not to in fact be Warner Brothers content (Electronic Frontier Foundation, 2012).
Or the case of the …
Music Publishers Association demanding web host ‘Go Daddy’ to remove a website that hosted Public Domain content, of which ‘Go Daddy’ obliged (Wilson, 2011).
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PLEASE EXPLAIN

30. Alan Hall
AND THIS IS CONCERNING
Because people are presumed guilty before innocentwith “… no due process of law [to] protect [them] before they are disconnected or their sites are blocked” (Berners-Lee, 2010, p. 85).
If people want to challenge the take-down request then the complainant gets given first right to decide if your content should be re-instated, and if unsuccessful the only avenue that remains is legal action, which is costly in both time and money for the average person (Tumblr, 2014g).
CC0 Public Domain.
Image source: Nemo(2014b).

31. Alan Hall
THE NET RESULT IS …
Free Speech that is
(Von Lohmann, 2010, p. 2)
CC0 Public Domain.
‘Chilled’ Image: Alan Hall (2014).

32. Alan Hall
IN CLOSING…
By accepting Tumblr’s ‘Terms of Service’, Tumblr (and others) will monitor your online activities and build a unique profile on you that may be shared with others at their sole discretion.
Your content may be removed for any reason, without notification which has the potential to limit freedom of expression, and be abused by Tumblr and others for their own motives.

33. References
30754. (2013). glasses-reader-frames-optical-143762 [Image]. Retrieved http://pixabay.com/en/glasses-reader-frames-optical-143762
Berners-Lee, T. (2010, December). Long Live the Web. Scientific American. Retrieved from http://jblomo.github.io/webarch253/slides/Long_Live_the_Web.pdf
Brown, I. (2007). Internet censorship: be careful what you ask for. In S. Kirca, & L. Hanson (Eds.), Freedom and Prejudice: Approaches to Media and Culture(pp. 74-91).
Instanbul: BahcesehirUniversity Press.
bykst. (2014). judge-flag-justice-law-adler-317290 [Image]. Retrieved from http://pixabay.com/en/judge-flag-justice-law-adler-317290
Chaffey, D., & Ellis-Chadwick, F. (2012). Digital Marketing: Strategy, Implementation and Practice. Harlow, ES: Pearson.
Duffy, J. (2011, June 14). Tumblr. Retrieved from http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0%2c2817%2c2195458%2c00.asp
Electronic Frontier Foundation. (2012). EFF Calls Foul on Robo-Takedowns. Retrieved from https://www.eff.org/press/releases/eff-calls-foul-robo-takedowns
ExecuRead. (n.d.). Speed Reading Facts. Retrieved from http://www.execuread.com/facts
Fradette, J. (2013). Online terms of service: a shield for First Amendment scrutiny of government action. Notre Dame Law Review, 89(2), 947-984. Retrieved from
http://home.heinonline.org
Frisby, S. (2008). tumblr.com/share as a fluid application [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/36-degrees
Fuzz. (2014). monkey-sculpture-carving-speaking-236861 [Image]. Retrieved from http://pixabay.com/en/monkey-sculpture-carving-speaking-236861
geralt. (2014a). question-mark-punctuation-marks-358177 [Image]. Retrieved from http://pixabay.com/en/question-mark-punctuation-marks-358177
Alan Hall

34. Alan Hall
geralt. (2014b). why-question-gorilla-monkey-234596 [Image]. Retrieved from http://pixabay.com/en/why-question-gorilla-monkey-234596
geralt. (2014c). monitor-man-men-shaking-hands-376211 [Image]. Retrieved from http://pixabay.com/en/monitor-man-men-shaking-hands-376211
geralt(2013). woman-stylish-at-internet-network-163426 [Image]. Retrieved from http://pixabay.com/en/woman-stylish-at-internet-network-163426
Hormozi, A. M. (2005). Cookies and Privacy. EDPACS, 32(9), 1-13. Retrieved from http://www.proquest.com
McDonald, A. M., & Cranor, L. F. (2008). The Cost of Reading Privacy Policies. I/S (Online): a journal of law and policy for the information society, 4(3), 543-568. Retrieved from http://www.heinonline.org
Monelgonel. (2014). justice-scales-balance-lawyer-423446 [Image]. Retrieved from http://pixabay.com/en/justice-scales-balance-lawyer-423446
Nemo. (2014a). cookie-chocolate-chip-blurred-307960 [Image]. Retrieved from http://pixabay.com/en/cookie-chocolate-chip-blurred-307960
Nemo. (2014b). law-justice-justizia-blind-scale-311363 [Image]. Retrieved from http://pixabay.com/en/law-justice-justizia-blind-scale-311363
Nemo. (2012a). head-paper-reading-bug-insect-46204 [Image]. Retrieved from http://pixabay.com/en/head-paper-reading-bug-insect-46204
Nemo. (2012b). copyright-symbol-intellectual-30343 [Image]. Retrieved from http://pixabay.com/en/copyright-symbol-intellectual-30343
OpenClips. (2013a). silhouette-human-woman-sex-sexy-147166 [Image]. Retrieved from http://pixabay.com/en/silhouette-human-woman-sex-sexy-147166
OpenClips. (2013b). hal-9000-camera-optical-computer-157883 [Image]. Retrieved from http://pixabay.com/en/hal-9000-camera-optical-computer-157883
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2011). The Role of Internet Intermediaries in Advancing Public Policy Objectives. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264115644-en
parameciorecords. (2014). anonymous-mask-bogotá-protest-275868 [Image]. Retrieved from http://pixabay.com/en/anonymous-mask-bogot%C3%A1-protest-275868
PublicDomainPictures. (2012). dollar-100-dollars-money-currency-15328 [Image]. Retrieved from http://pixabay.com/en/dollar-100-dollars-money-currency-15328
Tumblr.(2014a).About.Retrievedfrom https://www.tumblr.com/about
Tumblr. (2014b). Travel [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.tumblr.com/search/Travel
Tumblr. (2014c). Food [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.tumblr.com/search/Food

35. Alan Hall
Tumblr. (2014d). Hobbies [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.tumblr.com/search/Hobbies
Tumblr. (2014e). Fandom [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.tumblr.com/search/Fandom
Tumblr.(2014f).Tumblr.Retrievedfrom https://www.tumblr.com
Tumblr. (2014g). Terms of Service: Last Modified: 2014-01-27. Retrieved from https://www.tumblr.com/policy/en/terms-of-service
Tumblr. (2014h). Privacy Policy: Last Modified: 2014-01-27. Retrieved from https://www.tumblr.com/policy/en/privacy
Tumblr. (2014i). Community Guidelines: Last Modified: 2014-01-27. Retrieved from https://www.tumblr.com/policy/en/community
Unsplash. (2014). home-office-workstation-macbook-air-336581 [Image]. Retrieved from http://pixabay.com/en/home-office-workstation-macbook-air-336581
Villeneuve, N. (2006). The filtering matrix: Integrated mechanisms of information control and the demarcation of borders in cyberspace. First Monday, 11(1-2). Retrieved from
http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/1307/1227
Von Lohmann, F. (2010). Unintended Consequences: Twelve Years under the DMCA. Retrieved from https://www.eff.org/files/eff-unintended-consequences-12-years.pdf
Wilson, D. (2011). Public Domain Website Forced Offline Over Copyright Complaint. Retrieved from http://www.zeropaid.com/news/93191/public-domain-website-forced-offline-over- copyright-complaint

36. NET 303 Internet Politics and Power –Curtin University.
Thank you for your attention.
An Alan Hall, Internet Communications student presentation for
Alan Hall