The terms and conditions concerning Google docs are encompassed within the broad terms and conditions governing the use of all Google services, and an extension document which relates solely to Google Docs (Additional Terms of Service). Principally, Google accepts very little in terms of responsibility; the terms of service are replete with disclaimer’s removing the burden of responsibility from Google.
The main responsibilities adopted by Google are outlined in section 11 of the additional terms of service document (overwrites section 11 of the original terms of service). Section 11 states that whilst copyright and ownership of submitted data is retained by the author, by submitting the data, the author is granting Google with the ability to “reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute” the data as Google deems appropriate (Google Additional Terms of Service, 27.04.2011). This condition grants Google with a significant power over the data it receives; Google is entitled to alter any data it receives to suit its own agenda. That aside, this power/license assigns Google with the responsibility of displaying and distributing the data as part of the provision of the Google service.
However, this responsibility is significantly minimized by both section 4 and section 15 of the agreement. Section 4 contains a number of clauses enabling Google to revoke its provision of service, with no justification required; “Google may stop providing the services to you or to users generally at Google’s sole discretion, without prior notice” (Google Terms of Service, 27.04.2011). Similarly, section 15 claims zero liability in the case of incomplete or unsatisfactory service provision; “Google, its subsidiaries and affiliates, and its licensors do not represent or warrant to you that: (A) your use of the service will meet your requirements, (B) your use of the services will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or free from error” (Google Terms of Service, 27.04.2011). Hence, whilst Google assumes responsibility over the provision of its services and the display/distribution of the data it receives, Google remains uncommitted to upholding this responsibility. That said, Google does still have some liabilities regarding the service it provides, for instance UK users are partially protected by UK consumer protection laws (M. Mowbray, 2009).
As previously alluded to, the vast majority of the Google terms of service concerns removing liability from the behalf of Google. For instance, section 15 of the broad terms of service states that Google will not be held responsible for any loss or corruption of data. Similarly, section 15 also prevents Google from being held responsible for any negative effects induced from the use of its services, be they direct or indirect. For example, Google is not responsible for any “intangible loss”, such as “business reputation” (Google Terms of Service, 27.04.2011).
Likewise, Google makes no promises with regards to monitoring the content of the data it utilizes, nor the enforcement of the Google program policies in the case of inappropriate data. Section 8 of the Google terms of service states that Google has “no obligation to pre-screen, review, flag, filter, modify, refuse or remove any or all Content”. Furthermore, section 8 goes onto assert that responsibility over the content of data remains with the author/user. Thus, Google cannot be held liable for any inappropriate data it displays/distributes. More importantly, it should be noted that the refusal of responsibility over the content of data ensures that Google cannot be held liable should any legal action arise concerning ownership of the data. This is further achieved via the enforcement that the user must confirm they possess the “rights, power and authority” necessary to submit the data in question (Google
With regards to the storage and security of user data and personal information, section 7 dictates that data protection practices are governed by the Google privacy policy. The privacy policy offers very little in terms of how data will be protected beyond the vague promise of “appropriate security measures to protect against unauthorized access to or unauthorized alteration, disclosure or destruction of data” (Google Privacy Policy, 29.04.2011). This clearly promises very little, acting as a ‘get out clause’ in the event of a security breach. Interestingly the wording of the Goggle privacy policy resembles that of the Sony Playstaion Network privacy policy, which similarly promises to “take appropriate measures to protect your personal information” (Sony Playstation, 01.05.2011). The recent news headlines involving Sony and the hacking of the Playstation Network (BBC News, 2011) can therefore be seen to illustrate that Google accepts very little responsibility in terms of ensuring user data and information is kept secure from unauthorized access.
A further important aspect of the terms of service when considering the responsibilities residing with Google concerns the ability to instigate changes to the terms and conditions. Section 19 of the original document dictates that changes can and will be made to the terms of service “from time to time”, after which the continued use of Google Docs is interpreted as an acceptance of the amended terms. This is clearly a highly important clause when considering the responsibilities Google acknowledge, since the sparse and limited responsibilities which Google does accept can be retracted or amended with minimal effort being made to inform users.
From an in-depth examination of the Google terms and services it is clear that Google is extremely careful to remain void of responsibility when considering the storage and integrity of user data. All in all, Google goes to great lengths to ensure minimal liability surrounding the data it is given; judicious application of disclaimers ensure that what little responsibility is acknowledged is rendered almost mute.
Google Terms of Service, accessed at 12:15 27.04.2011, http://www.google.com/accounts/TOS
Google Additional Terms of Service, accessed at 13:44 27.04.2011, http://www.google.com/google-d-s/intl/en/addlterms.html
Google Privacy Policy, accessed at 19:11 29.04.2011, http://www.google.com/intl/en/privacy/privacy-policy.html
Sony Playstation, accessed at 15:46 01.05.2011, http://legaldoc.dl.playstation.net/ps3-eula/psn/e/e_privacy_en.html
M Mowbray, "The Fog over the Grimpen Mire: Cloud Computing and the Law", (2009) 6:1 SCRIPTed 129, http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol6-1/mowbray.asp
BBC News Technology, 2011, Playstation outage caused by hacking attack, 25 April, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13169518
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