Well THAT Was Unexpected! Trapped by Steemit Terms and Privacy!
Maybe I am overreacting... and maybe everyone has already experienced this. Then again, maybe you're perpetually logged into your Steemit account, so you might not see this, when you try to log in:
OK, that's new. Surprising. But fine, I'll "please review"
I was just minding my business and logged out of my @reddragonfly business account and back into my @denmarkguy personal account.
When the above popped up on my screen.
OK, fair enough... even though I thought we were all about privacy and non-intervention here. But I also recognize this was probably some legal extension of the the new EU privacy rules. So FINE.
Let's have a look at just what these "terms of service" ARE, shall we:
Screen shot of the terms of service. This is up for almost NO TIME before the next...
Except... that was up on the screen for exactly one second before being blacked out. WTF, mate?
Screen shot of the "blacked out" terms of service. You can kind of still see it underneath...
It took me three tries to actually get a screen shot in the split second between the page load and the blackout. I'm sorry, I don't read that fast!
Shall we have a look at the "Privacy Policy" then? Here we go:
Screen shot of Steemit's Privacy Policy. I had about 1/2 second to read this...
Of course, that instantaneously blacked out, as well.
So what you are REALLY saying here is that in order for me to "continue" so I can actually read the Terms and Privacy statements, I have to AGREE to them, first?
When I check the boxes, I can actually "Continue..."
If I check the boxes, I can go forth! But then I've already agreed, before reading the statements!
That's some seriously bogus stuff, right there. And I'm not even a paranoid freedom privacy they-are-out-to-get-us conspiracy nut.
Is anybody out there? Where are the developers? Is this just a LITTLE weird? Or was something implemented with absolutely ZERO testing?
Please SHARE this, till someone actually SEES this and DOES something! Or Comments!
What do YOU think? Comments? Feedback? Thoughts? Complaints? Concerns? Have you had this happen to you? Did you realize you were "trapped," or did you just "blindly" agree? Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation!
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(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for Steemit)
Created at 180612 14:31 PDT
The same thing happened to me and I copied the text of both. This is upsetting because none of the other decentralized chains have had me agreeing to things and holding my money hostage.
Well, Bittrex did hold my entire account hostage for identification. Once Identified, I pulled out every last ten thousandth of every coin on there.
My gut says I should do the same here before Steemit does the same.
We really need a line of delineation as to how much of this platform is or is not centralized.
Is the ToS website specific though? Couldn't you just get around it by using Busy.org instead?
You made a post, like I made a post, that we were coerced to accept the new terms, I stated on my post that the new terms were coerced and that I am operating under the old terms since those are the only ones I got to full ready and accept, I know it will make no difference, but it does to me.
"Coercion," is about right. And, of course, most people would have to claim they "have no choice." Of course, in the greater scheme of things, a case could potentially be made for "theft," inasmuch as our Steem wallets were (in essence) held hostage behind agreeing to those terms.
Which opens a whole nasty potential can of worms (worst case scenario) in which you HAVE to agree to these terms to get to your account, and one of those "terms" is that your entire SP balance now belongs to STINC.
You can always just switch to Busy. There are plenty of other ways to get wallet access too, including interacting with the chain directly in a worst-case scenario. Steemit.com has no rights to your Steem wallet and can't impose T&Cs on it.
Workarounds notwithstanding, it's still a bit sketchy to have a page you can't clar unless you "agree" to something you can't read.
Absolutely. Just pointing out that if you want to you could leave Steemit because of that without also leaving Steem. (There's a reasonable argument that Busy is a better front end anyway.)
@tcpolymath, Busy is starting to sound really like a better deal.
Does busy take a percentage of your posts?
Yep, busy indeed take some percentage from our post rewards.
Good point!
Yep. This is some major BS. Two years and the platform still full of elementary level bugs. And this one, quite a serious one. Resteemed. @ned, what's going on with all this stuff? What are the coders/programmers doing?
Please let us know!
I'm even willing to consider that we are looking at one of the "weaknesses" of decentralization: There's no central or consolidated "quality control system" to make sure bugs like this don't go out the front door without notice. That's a super simple piece of code that was omitted: "Open TOS or Privacy in new tab with an exception." Structured programming 101.
Well, I mean, the platform itself--steemit.com--is centralized and as such I think it's nuts that little things like this just remain without a fix.
Well said and your other comments too KA
For those who haven't been able to read the TOS, here a screenshot I could take with Firefox's function, takes the entire page instead of only the visible on screen.
The main question I have now...
Are the SBD, STEEM, SP mine or not?
Because if this TOS means someone else can block my access to those, then STEEMIT is no longer descentralized and free...
I wonder what exactly we can backup? @melooo182 where is the data regarding ownership of Steem and SBD?
As far as I know the only thing you can backup is your keys, with which you should be able to access the blockchain...but still need a client that doesn't really on steemit 100%
Okay, I have all I can back-up, backed up, thank you @melooo82
I signed up to Busy.org, I like the UI a lot better @melooo182
yeah busy is quite decent, call me a miser xD but I keep using steemit because it doesn't charge any % of the earnings for using it.
Great post!!
I had no idea theat the RDF acct was yours, I see a comment etc everyone once in awhile from them and like them too, like I enjoy you.
Well, my vote is worth nothing now, as I continued to sell off my stake, and seeing this news, and what this has turned into, makes me OK with my decisions.
I am going to RS this for you, to spread awareness and I rarely do that.
I stopped investing all my time here last August after the repeated bullying, flagging, nobody standing up for me or what is right.
I really loved this place and put everything I had into it.
web site designers are idiots.
it's probably harmless but it makes me feel much better about powering down.
That got a genuine snort of laughter...
You may end up laughing at everyone who didn't power down!
If you don't mind my asking, is that SP you're leasing turning out to be worthwhile?
yup...the leased SP has paid for it self several times over.
my reasoning is...if my account get's hacked I don't loose much.
the hacker won't gain much either.
I can email BlockTrades to shut the delegation down
Can't fault that logic, and good on you for making it work.
And thumbs up to BlockTrades for leasing out SP to human beings, rather than just creating another stupid bidbot.
I'm very favorably impressed with Blocktrades.
I am a paranoid freedom privacy they-are-out-to-get-us conspiracy nut and I'm not surprised at all - that is a standard tactic - for some reason most Steemians seem to believe Steemit is the exception. I love Steemit to bits but ultimately, at it's foundation, it's unlikely to be different to the rest of internet itself. Set up for a purpose.
Fact.
Nobody does anything out of the goodness of their hearts.
Most people do things so they can have "lots of money." Even people who hate money want lots of money so they can build a fortified bunker deep in the woods where "they" can never reach...
I just try to Zen with the whole idea that everything I believe is true in this moment could completely change five minutes from now, and I have ZERO control over that.
Yeah - it's all we can do really - I've long since given up any idea of privacy because I've left 20 years of tracks all over the internet, and done posts on every taboo subject under the sun.
Truth is I think the internet was originally all set up for social programming and that includes Steemit.
But letting the cat out of the bag can do all sorts of things.
Careful letting the cat out of the bag like that.... there's more than one way to skin a cat...
One could even think of Steemit as a "self sorting" mechanism of sorts, designed to congregate alleged "freedom seekers" and offgridders under a single umbrella.
There are a bunch of Steemit accounts I'd like to discuss at some length, but I don't so much as whisper their names because now I'm paid to be on my best behavior - safe to say that is not my usual online behavior, but in the past I've even been black listed by goosle and that was expensive, so I've learned caution...
too true i feel the same
The internet is full of people doing things out of the kindness of their hearts; as is the “real world”. How much free shit is on the internet? And though tons are put there for ulterior motives, plenty is there because people like to share cool stuff.
I'm pretty sure it is a bug in the terms vs. how they wanted it to perform. It will likely be fixed shortly.
Why would you assume that and who is "they"?
Ah yes, "they." Truthfully, I have never met "them." And I doubt I ever will. Besides, "they" say that "they" never show themselves, so seeing "them" is probably impossible...
Well, because there is a Github issue on it.
Github...
LOL
'Git' is usually used as an insult, more severe than twit but less severe than a true profanity like wanker or arsehole, and may often be used affectionately between friends.
'Git' is frequently used in conjunction with another word to achieve a more specific meaning. For instance a "smarmy git" refers to a person of a slimy, ingratiating disposition; the phrase "grumpy old git", denoting a cantankerous old man, is used with particular frequency.
I guess this is all a coincidence too... Geeks don't know this stuff.
Although, now that microscum have bought it, the name github is perfect
I'm hopeful it will be fixed... otherwise it would definitely be a candidate for "Hypocrisy of the Year!"
For the moment, we watch. In time, this post can hopefully be filed under "Ooops Humor."
Thank you for writing about this! I was on a few hours ago and saw that pop up but exed out of the page as I was completely caught off guard and NOT in a space to read anything. Really odd way to “jump” this on all of us. Hope to get some clarity, too... oh and by the way, after I didn’t click anything but just exed the page- now I’m on and that little window didn’t pop up again! Guess I avoided it for now.
It does seem to have more or less blown over by itself... probably just some coding issue. Still a little disturbing, considering the general philosophies of so many on this site.
That kept happening to me over, and over, and over again. I'd read for a few seconds, and then have to open a new tab.... over and over and over again...
Whereas it probably was "just a mistake" (usually happens when someone is trying to push an update out the door), it's still pretty sloppy... and in a community of libertarians, freethinkers and homesteaders, pretty bad "dropping of the ball."
Functionally speaking, it probably doesn't mean much... but it leaves a bad taste.