Google release a new browser to much media attention this week. However it took some keen eyes to quickly spot some material issues with the EULA (end user licence agreement).
Google’s standard EULA included an acknowledgement that “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, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services..” With the “Service” in this case being the Chrome browser, Google was effectively obtaining a right to publish and distribute anything you type into the browser or any website you visit. Google has since gone on to correct the issue by deleting the offending language.
While standard terms of service are great for efficiency, not all products or deals will fit into a pre-defined box. Whether it’s product terms and conditions, a licence agreement or even just general business dealings, it’s important to step back and critically evaluate whether what you used last time is really appropriate next time around. In some cases it’s more efficient to start over than try and squeeze a round peg into a square hole.
All that said, credit to Google for admitting the issue and recognising that its standard EULA needed a bit more polish.
