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It's all in the small print

Quite literally, the small print.

I wanted to try and download voicemails from my phone (call me sentimental, but in years to come, I might be happy to still be able to hear my Mum leaving rambling messages about what insane item she's found for me on eBay today), which appears to actually be quite a difficult thing to do. Multiple forums recommended various techniques involving cables, computers, headphones and microphones, but that's all a bit complex for me, and I decided to try one of the free apps that claimed to be able to manage voicemails.

I did the sign-up, email, password etc, but I thought "hey, since this mini-computerabob that I'm carrying everywhere has access to a LOT of information about me and my life...maybe I'd better actually read the terms and conditions that I have to confirm that I agree with?". After all, there's plenty of stories about what can happen if you allow apps or services access to your phone without considering it.

Now, my phone screen is approximately 3 inches by 2 inches, so these images are approximately the same size as when they're viewed on my phone...hands up who thinks anyone could actually read this?





4 pages worth of small print. Very, very small print. As far as I know, I may well be signing up to donate my body to medical science, while still alive.

So...is the chance to save voicemails worth that risk? Do I sign up, and risk being carted off to a medical facility to be used for terrible experiments, when I least expect it?

Or...do I do what everyone has to do these days - just accept it, and hope that it's not malicious? After all, if I don't accept it, I can't use the service, so it's not really much of a choice, is it?
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Unknown said…
I use Voicefeed to receive all voicemails as emails automatically. They also arrive on my phone, along with any missed calls and 'no message left' notifications.
29 September 2012 at 18:41
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