POLICY
PRIMER
SlideShare: Terms of Service

A visual guide by Simon Mainwaring.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License

?
How many times have you
mindlessly checked and accepted
a websites Terms of Service (TOS)
agreement when signing up?

Ever wondered how that, affects you?

A sites TOS is a legal agreement
between you and them, it covers off a
number of eventualities for both parties.
(Computer User, 2009)

It not only covers registered members, but those who are just visiting as well.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/itspaulkelly/41656936/ CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

So, by simply navigating to a website…
…you are playing by their rules.

Lets look at Slideshare's TOS to get a better picture.
www.slideshare.net/terms

YOU are solely responsible
for the material that YOU
publish to SlideShare.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ajc1/ CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

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That means SlideShare will
accept NO responsibility for
any consequences from
publishing your content.

Even if it’s a malicious virus.
(Perez, 2009)

Amongst other things, material submitted to SlideShare should not be…
“…unlawful, obscene, defamatory, libelous,
threatening, pornographic, harassing, hateful,
racially or ethnically offensive, or encourages
conduct that would be considered a criminal
offense, give rise to civil liability, violate any law,
or is otherwise inappropriate.”
(SlideShare, 2009)

You should also be the rights
holder or have permission to use
the material you submit to
SlideShare.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeblogs/ CC BY 2.0

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If you are accused of not being
the rights holder, SlideShare can
remove your content and delete
your account…without notice.

You do retain the
rights to your own
content.

But by uploading your content to SlideShare you grant them…
“…a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free,
sublicenseable and transferable license to use,
reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of,
display, and perform the Submissions in
connection with the Site and SlideShare's (and its
successor's) business, including without limitation
for promoting and redistributing part or all of the
Site (and derivative works thereof) in any media
formats and through any media channels (except
to the extent limited by, and expressly stated in
the applicable additional terms and conditions for,
Premium Services offered by SlideShare).”
(SlideShare, 2009)

{ }
That means SlideShare can use your
content any way they please in
relation to their business...without
paying you a cent.

The material you post to SlideShare can't be overtly
commercial or consist of advertising...

...but it is OK for SlideShare to run ads next
to your content.

Unfortunately you don't get a cut of the cash.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jtyerse/3954240271/ CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

STILL
WANT
YOUR
O W N
LOGIN?

Then you must provide accurate and complete information:

Name, email,
address, age, phone
number, photo...

While you can update or remove your personal information from
your SlideShare account...

…SlideShare can delete your account if you remove it all.

SlideShare also AUTOMATICALLY records Log Data:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/articnomad/ CC BY-SA 2.0

IP Address,
browser type, OS,
previous web
pages, times, dates,
internal pages…

What do they do with all this data?

Generally its all used to
help provide you the user
with the service.

It may be stored on
your computer in a
Cookie, as logins or
passwords.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fredfred/ CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

It may be shared as aggregate (non identifiable) information with
third parties for:

• Industry analysis
• Demographic profiling
• Delivering targeted advertising
• Database management
• Web analytics
• Services maintenance

Your information is their asset?

“SlideShare may sell, transfer
or otherwise share some or all
of its assets, including your
Personal Information, in
connection with a merger,
acquisition, reorganization or
sale of assets or in the event
of bankruptcy.”
(SlideShare, 2009)

After all of this.

WITHOUT
SlideShare can terminate the service
NOTIFICATION

You could loose all your content.

They can also update the TOS without even advising you:

YOU
have to
check the website
for any
changes.

If you don't like the changes, the only recourse you have is to…

http://www.flickr.com/photos/windysydney/ CC BY-NC 2.0

…using the site and services.

Hopefully now you have
a better understanding
of what you are agreeing
to.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sonson/ CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

After all, it is YOUR information.

References
AJC1. (2008). Uncle Sam. Retrieved October 24, 2009, from
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ajc1/2799103829/.
fred fred. (2007). From my Kitchen: Pistachio, apricot, oatmeal cookies. Retrieved October 25, 2009, from
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fredfred/1127924629/.
itspaulkelly. (2005). Members Only. Retrieved October 25, 2009, from
http://www.flickr.com/photos/itspaulkelly/41656936/.
Jones, D. (2009). SlideShare Slip Leaves Barrick Exposed. IR Web Report. Retrieved October 25, 2009, from
http://www.irwebreport.com/daily/2009/07/22/slideshare-slip-leaves-barrick-exposed/.
JoshuaDavisPhotography. COM. (2005). Computer Data Output. Retrieved October 25, 2009, from
http://www.flickr.com/photos/articnomad/16153058/.
MikeBlogs. (2008). Copyright Symbols. Retrieved October 24, 2009, from
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeblogs/3020966500/.
Perez, S. (2009). SlideShare Used to Spread Malware. Read Write Web. Retrieved October 25, 2009, from
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/slideshare_used_to_spread_malware.php.
Privacy Policy. (2009). SlideShare. Retrieved October 25, 2009, from
http://www.slideshare.net/privacyhttp://www.slideshare.net/privacy.
Sonson. (2006). They Never Understand Me. Retrieved October 24, 2009, from
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sonson/328396763/.
Privacy Policy. (2009). SlideShare. Retrieved October 25, 2009, from http://www.slideshare.net/privacy.
Terms of Services. (2009). SlideShare. Retrieved October 25, 2009, from http://www.slideshare.net/terms.
Terms Of Service. (2009). Computer User. Retrieved October 25, 2009, from
http://www.computeruser.com/resources/dictionary/definition.html?lookup=7542.
windy sydney. (2009). Stop. Retrieved October 25, 2009, from
http://www.flickr.com/photos/windysydney/3367641925/.