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How Should We Address the Pervasive Issue of Unread Agreements in Society?

2025/05/30 10:00
Editors of Iolite
Written by Iolite Editorial Team
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社会に蔓延する未読同意契約にどう立ち向かっていくべきか

The Pitfalls of 'Consent' Lurking in Everyday Life

This time, let's take a different approach and explore futuristic societal challenges that didn't exist in the 20th century and the solutions being implemented.

Do you remember the first time you signed a contract? You probably scrutinized the document to ensure there were no errors and that no unfavorable terms were included. However, what happens when we shift to digital? Downloading smartphone apps, registering on e-commerce sites, signing up for web media... Every day, we skim through documents called 'Terms of Use,' yet we don't engage with them with the same seriousness.

In Japan, with a population of 120 million, pages containing terms of use accumulate over 30 billion page views annually. Even if only 10% agree to these terms, that's still 3 billion contractual agreements. Yet, most people are hardly aware that they are engaging in contractual acts.

In 2014, an experiment in Canada Square, London, added a joke clause to the terms of service for public Wi-Fi access for two weeks.

"By using this Wi-Fi, you agree to give up your firstborn. If you don't have children, your most beloved pet will suffice." "Clean public toilets for 1,000 hours." "Paint snail shells to make their presence more noticeable." Despite these terms stating "This agreement is valid indefinitely," out of approximately 20,000 users who accessed the public Wi-Fi during the period, only one person, or 0.000045%, noticed the absurdity of the terms.

The organizers stated that it was merely an experiment and had no intention of enforcing these terms, but what if the terms had been malicious?

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MAGAZINE
Iolite Vol.14

Iolite Vol.14

July 2025 issueReleased on 2025/05/30

Interview Iolite FACE vol.14 Charles Hoskinson, founder and CEO of Cardano/Input Output Global PHOTO & INTERVIEW Mariko Mabuchi Special feature: "Considerations on cryptocurrency-related policies in Japan and the US", "Blockchain guide from Japan", "Huge position liquidation occurs at Hyperliquid! A new, unanticipated crisis in decentralized finance", "Sakana AI, a generative AI startup from Japan that is attracting a lot of attention", "Prepare for a recession: correlation between finance and anomalies" Crypto Journey: "Web 3.0 from the perspective of the 'King of Debate'" Interview with Hiroyuki Special series: Virtual Nishi: "Cryptocurrency market trends and key points for interpreting them" Series: Tech and Future Toshinao Sasaki, etc.

MAGAZINE

Iolite Vol.14

July 2025 issueReleased on 2025/05/30
Interview Iolite FACE vol.14 Charles Hoskinson, founder and CEO of Cardano/Input Output Global PHOTO & INTERVIEW Mariko Mabuchi Special feature: "Considerations on cryptocurrency-related policies in Japan and the US", "Blockchain guide from Japan", "Huge position liquidation occurs at Hyperliquid! A new, unanticipated crisis in decentralized finance", "Sakana AI, a generative AI startup from Japan that is attracting a lot of attention", "Prepare for a recession: correlation between finance and anomalies" Crypto Journey: "Web 3.0 from the perspective of the 'King of Debate'" Interview with Hiroyuki Special series: Virtual Nishi: "Cryptocurrency market trends and key points for interpreting them" Series: Tech and Future Toshinao Sasaki, etc.