No time to read those long privacy policies? Let AI do it for you

October 1, 2019

By Kim Komando

Admit it: You probably haven’t read the full text of a privacy policy after signing up for a social network or app. And who can blame you? They’re long, complicated and written in such dense “legalese” that it would take a lawyer-and-a-half just to translate it into plain English.

That said, this presents a problem. Data hungry companies like Facebook and Google are banking on the fact that nobody reads their privacy policies. That’s why these documents have a tendency to hide controversial processes like audio transcription in plain sight. Plus, if the process is listed in the privacy policy, these companies are legally protected from angry consumers. You “agreed to it” in order to sign up, after all.

If you’re tired of being stabbed in the back by tricky privacy policies, then this online app might be just what the doctor ordered. Using AI, the software scans through the privacy policies of some of the most popular platforms on the web. It lays out problematic elements, scandals and a score on trustworthiness to help you make smarter decisions about your data. Curious to see what it says about your favorite site?

Guard helps you get smart with your privacy

Guard is a free to use web application that categorizes and ranks social media platforms based on their most important element that nobody pays attention to; the privacy policy.

Using built-in AI, Guard scans through policies of some of the most popular platforms on the internet. It maps out potential privacy risks, lists previous data scandals for you to view and provides a percentage score on how trustworthy the platform is for your privacy.

As an example, we tested the app out on Instagram by clicking the icon above. What we got was a clear readout of the platform’s many privacy failings, as well as a score of 21% in terms of trustworthiness.

Even better, the app includes suggestions on how to protect your privacy. For those of you who find yourselves tired of the whole mess after reading these platforms’ dirty laundry, Guard even gives you instructions on how to delete your specific profile on that platform.

Guard is free to use and is available for all devices with access to a web browser. You don’t need any login information for your platform of choice, but do take the time to read through their data and see just what you might have missed on your favorite social network’s privacy policy. It’s a real treat.