This Policy Primer simplifies the Wordpress Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and how it affects users.

1. WHAT HAVE YOU
SIGNED UP FOR?
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License
.

2. What is Wordpress?
Blog and
Webhosting
service
Basic free
service with
paid
upgrades
Owned and
operated by
Automattic
Inc
As the owner and operator of Wordpress.com Automattic Inc is referenced as
the legal entity and is referenced with Wordpress within this presentation.

3. How is Wordpress used?
Open
Source
Project
Hundreds
of people
worldwide
“WordPress is an Open Source project, which
means there are hundreds of people all over the
world working on it”. (Wordpress, About Wordpress)

4. The Wordpress Mantra
“Our service is designed to give you as much
control and ownership over what goes on your site
as possible and encourage you to express yourself
freely” (Wordpress, Terms of Service).
If this is the case then why does Automattic Inc
have operating rules, procedures and policies that
restrict control, ownership and freedom of
expression on Wordpress?

5. Wordpress Terms of Service
“By accessing or using any of part of the web site,
you agree to become bound by the terms and
conditions” (Wordpress, Terms of Service).
Operating rules, procedures and policies that form part
of the Wordpress Terms of Service include:
• Terms of Service
• Privacy Policy
• Automattic’s Digital Millennium Copyright Act Notice

6. Wordpress content
You
Automattic Inc
• Are over the age of 13
• Responsible for all content
ensuring its legal and adheres to
copyright
• Must abide by Wordpress
(Automattic Inc) Terms of Use
• Must abide by the Automattic Inc
Privacy Policy
• Liable for any harm that comes
from your content
• Agree to Wordpress using your
blog as it likes
• Agree to Wordpress having
control of your page
• Automattic Inc has a “worldwide,
royalty-free and non exclusive
licence to reproduced, modify,
adapt and publish the Content
solely for the purpose of
displaying, distributing and
promoting your blog”
(Wordpress)
• Can display advertising on your
blog unless you pay for upgrade
• Can change or remove content it
considers inappropriate or
unlawful
• Reserves the right to add
attribution links to your page

7. Automattic Inc and liability
Automattic Inc
takes no
responsibility for
the content, its
use or the effect
it has
Automattic Inc
does not
endorse any
material or
content on
Wordpress.
Automattic Inc
takes copyright
infringements
seriously and
provides an
outlet for
complaints
Complaints about copyright infringement can be lodged through
Automattic’s Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) Policy

8. Freedom of expression restrictions
Must adhere
to copyright
Infringe on
others
copyright
Use your
content as
Spam
Freedom of
expression
restrictions
must not
violate
privacy or
publicity
rights
Must not be
pornographic
in nature
Must not be
violent in
nature

9. What happens if operating rules,
procedures and policies are not met?
Automattic Inc:
can deny
access to
anyone for
any reason
can terminate
your page at
any time
without
reason or
notice
can change
or remove
content it
considers
inappropriate
or unlawful
provides a
Dispute
Resolution
and
Reporting
procedure

10. What happens to your data on
Wordpress?
You
Automattic Inc
consent to personal-identifying data
being shared with third parties who
do work for Wordpress.org.
collects data of a non-personal
nature to understand usage
can set browser to reject cookies if
unwanted
collects personal information to
interact with users
agree to Automattic Inc collecting
and keeping your personalidentifying data
supplies personal data confidentially
to third parties who do work for
Wordpress.org.
Discloses personal-identifying data
when required to do so by law
Uses cookies to identify and track
users and their preferences

11. To be able to use Wordpress you need to read their policies,
restrictions and procedures.
• You need to understand that whilst you own the content
Wordpress controls who has access and how its used.
• The Wordpress Privacy Policy is very transparent about keeping
and using your personal data for their own means.
• In all the policies, restrictions and procedures Automattic Inc is
very clear that they will not accept liability for content on their site.
This makes you liable for anything that is on your site and the
effect it has.
Once the terms of use are clear you either agree with them or not. If
not there is only one option, do not use Wordpress!

12. References
Automattic (n.d.). Digital Millennium Copyright Act Notice. Retrieved from
http://automattic.com/dmca/ on 14 October 2013.
Creative Commons (n.d.). Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported (CC BY-ND
3.0). Retrieved from http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/
Wordpress (n.d.). About Wordpress. Retrieved from
http://wordpress.org/about/ on 14 October 2013.
Wordpress (n.d.). Dispute Resolution and Reporting. Retrieved from
http://en.support.wordpress.com/disputes/ on 14 October 2013
Wordpress (n.d.). Logos and graphics. Retrieved from
http://wordpress.org/about/logos/ on 9 October 2013.
Wordpress (n.d.). Privacy Policy. http://wordpress.org/about/privacy/ on 14
October 2013.
Wordpress (n.d.). Terms of Service. Retrieved from
http://en.wordpress.com/tos/ on 14 October 2013.
Wordpress (n.d.). Trademark Policy. Retrieved from
http://wordpressfoundation.org/trademark-policy/ on 9 October 2013.
Wordpress logos are trademarked and are used in this presentation according to the Wordpress
Logos and Graphics usage policy. This presentation is no way endorsed or supported by
Wordpress.com, Wordpress.org or Automattic Inc.