DoNotPay's AI now offers advice on license agreements before you accept the terms

[Cal Jeffrey]

Cutting corners: Tired of reading EULAs and ToS agreements? Don't read them at all? DoNotPay's "robot lawyer" has got your back. The company is now offering a subscription-based service that will read any licensing contract that you plug into it and alert you to loopholes and other conditions you should pay attention to.

DoNotPay, a service launched in 2017 that uses AI to help people with legal issues, like traffic tickets, has announced a new service called “Do Not Sign.” The tool can analyze license agreements like those you might find on any number of websites and uses machine learning to find questionable clauses and legal loopholes.

For many people, signing a license agreement involves scrolling through it until they find the “Agree” button. Not reading any legal document before signing is not wise in practice, but it is understandable when those contracts use a lot of legalese and are sometimes 20 or more pages long.

Having a lawyer comb through it is the best course of action, but is impractical for most people, especially when dealing with online terms of service. Do Not Sign does not propose that it is a replacement for a lawyer, but it is a decent alternative to not reading the agreement at all.

Users can upload or scan a document or even paste a URL into the app, and the AI will take over from there. After going over the agreement, users are presented with an easy to read interface showing them any warnings or loopholes it found. It will also highlight ways to opt-out of some clauses — data collection being one example.

Additionally, Do Not Sign alerts users to rights they may be owed under the agreement, which is why the tool was created. DoNotPay CEO Joshua Browder said he thought of the idea when he wanted to get out of his gym membership.

“I got into this gym membership with this US company called Planet Fitness, and I didn’t realize when I was signing up that it’s basically impossible to cancel,” Browder told The Verge. “I think it just goes to show that even someone like me wouldn’t read the fine print. I don’t think regular people know what they’re agreeing to.”

Unlike DoNotPay’s free chatbot, Do Not Sign has a $3 per month subscription fee attached. The service is available in the United States starting today, November 20 and can be accessed through the DoNotPay iPhone app or on the website. Browder says he plans to bring the service to the United Kingdom by the end of December.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/82859-donotpay-ai-now-offers-advice-license-agreements-before.html

 

[Uncle Al]

I like the idea and while the monthly subscription is reasonable, the average person probably isn't going to engage with enough services, etc. that will allow them to take the contract and pick it apart before signing. They might be wiser to offer an ala' cart option that allows you to purchase one time reviews for a nominal fee; like $5-10 ......

 

[Cal Jeffrey]

I like the idea and while the monthly subscription is reasonable, the average person probably isn't going to engage with enough services, etc. that will allow them to take the contract and pick it apart before signing. They might be wiser to offer an ala' cart option that allows you to purchase one time reviews for a nominal fee; like $5-10 ......

I think he went with the subscription model because that is what Apple has been pressuring iOS developers to do. You may or may not have noted in the article that DoNotPay is only available on the web or iOS. I understand Apple's motivation to create continuous streams of revenue from single apps, but that does not mean I agree with it. I agree, though. How often does the average user need to analyze an EULA or ToS? Certainly not one a month. The need for the service it too sporadic to justify a monthly subscription IMO.

 

[mbrowne5061]

Does it analyze its own EULA?

 

[Zor Ven]

Does it work on their own terms before you sign up for the service?