Not so much Privacy..

I downloaded the Nike Training Club app recently but haven’t made an account with it yet, so it was easy to find the terms and conditions the developers were eager to have me agree to. It can changes its terms and conditions without notice to the user and if you continue to use the product, it means you’re actually consenting to these changes— which just seems like tricking its users.

Also all “user generated content” including communications, materials, information, data, opinions, photos, profiles, messages, notes, website links, text information, music, videos, designs, graphics, sounds, and any other content that you and/or other Platform users post or otherwise make available on or through the Platform, except to the extent the Content is owned by NIKE. I think it’s kind of absurd that Nike will own all photos or messages— even links— I post/use on the app. The terms of use LATER outlines not to post personal information and to “be private” on the app; which is kind of difficult considering they make it almost impossible to do so. The app says they own the conversations created using the app— which just seems ridiculous.

What Nike wants to do with all this information? I wish I knew. This information might be of use if sold to third-parties wanting to gather data on athletic app users or even how users interact with each other on an app like the Nike Training Club app. Is it ethical for the app to gather that information on me from using it? Knowing that most people don’t thoroughly read the Terms and Conditions, I’d say no. Plus Nike’s Terms and Conditions are intentionally vague in its outline of what certain content counts as their property once it is generated— the Terms and Conditions made it sound like everything. I’m not sure if I’d say this is considered hacking, but having a set of Terms and Conditions that are basically vague with the purpose of gathering as much information as possible doesn’t seem okay.

If I were a famous hacker, if I was just hacking on a normal day (because I guess this is my day job if I’m a hacker), and I noticed something was amiss with the government, I’d probably investigate the files and see if I could uncover more information. If what I uncover monumentally affects the public, I’d probably think it my duty to inform the mass public. I guess hacking, itself, is illegal, but if a hacker uncovers corruption within the government by officials the public voted into office, I feel it’s for the greater good of that public to be informed of what their representation in the government is doing— especially if it’s an abuse of power. If this knowledge would count as stolen information, why would the elected official hide anything in the first place and not think it’d be something to be held accountable to?