Runner's World is part of Rodale Publishing Inc.
One of our assignments this week was to read and evaluate the privacy policy of a favorite Web site. I decided to read over RunnersWorld.com’s policy since I regularly contribute information to the site via my blog. I was pretty shocked at what I found. Even on a site that (I think) I’m extremely familiar with, I uncovered some things with which I really disagreed.
The policy starts out pretty basic with Rodale Publishing (who owns Runner’s World) acknowledging the reader as part of the Rodale “family.” As part of this family, Rodale promises to do their best to protect your rights and personal information. That’s very nice but how do they do it? Well, they’re going to tell you, but first they want you to know that by simply viewing their privacy policy, you are agreeing to it and accepting all terms and conditions.
This policy explains what we do with your information and what you can expect from Rodale. By using this site, you indicate your acceptance of Rodale’s Privacy Policy.
I find this a little disturbing. What about the visitors that don’t view the privacy policy? Are they exempt from its conditions because they didn’t read them? Of course not, but the wording is confusing. This wouldn’t really be a problem for anyone just browsing the articles on Runner’s World, but what about those (like me) who contribute original work? Runners World offers multiple creative outlets including blogging tools, photo galleries, and comment enabled articles. There isn’t a privacy policy that pops up with a “check here to agree to our terms” message when you register for a photo gallery, and the privacy policy itself is hidden at the bottom of the Web page. I know we have discussed in class that many Web sites discourage readership of their privacy policies, but as someone contributing information regularly, I want to know what my rights are.
The first issue addressed in the privacy policy is protecting children under 13. Rodale says, “We won’t knowingly allow anyone under 13 to provide us any personal identifying information.” This can easily be accomplished by lying about your age on the registration form you are required to complete for a Runner’s World account. My question is, what will Rodale do if they discover someone under the age of 13 has been providing them information? They don’t offer any solution to this problem. My guess is that they will immediately remove all posts and other information uploaded by the user, but they don’ say that. They should make the consequences clearer.
Under the “What’s in it for me?” header, Rodale explains that user “information is shared with reputable organizations that may contact you with special offers of possible interest.” I’d rather be able to decide for myself who can contact me. What’s more confusing is that using the “unsubscribe” feature on emails from these other organizations will only stop their emails from reaching your inbox. The companies will still be able to collect your information. The only way to stop this collection is by filling out a form provided on the Rodale Web site.
Rodale addresses changes to the privacy policy under the “Changes” header. Any changes to the policy are posted directly to the Web site. They offer no email updates to address these changes, which I see as a problem. It seems inconvenient to have readers constantly checking the policy for updates. If there are changes, would we even notice them? The policy is hard to read and any updates would be hard to find.
The most shocking part of the policy, in my opinion, was in the “Rights” section. Rodale says, “By submitting content to or through our sites, you grant us the non-exclusive right to reproduce, modify, and distribute it as we see fit in any medium and for any purpose in any form, media, or technology now known or later developed.” I have never seen “technology now known or later developed” included in a privacy policy before. This is especially disturbing because Runner’s World very much encourages readers to post photos, blogs, and other original content to their Web site. Knowing that Runner’s World can do whatever they like with that information actually caused me to remove a series of photos I had uploaded a few months ago. But of course now I wonder, are those photos really “gone?”
Rodale goes on to state, “You also permit any other user to access, display, and print such content for personal use.” This is shocking. If this is actually true, how can they state in the same paragraph that “If non-original content is included in your posting, you must obtain permission from the content owner and attribute it.” This seems like a huge contradiction to the previous statement. Who is protected here? Only those who have copyrighted material? Is my original photo gallery able to be snatched up and copyrighted by whoever wishes to do so? With so much of my original content on the Runner’s World Web site, I would like more clarification on this matter.
Other things that caught my attention:
- We have appropriate security measures that protect against the loss, misuse, or alteration of information that we have collected from you. From the “What about data security” section. What are those measures? They don’t include any further information or a link to further information.
- You agree not to use the Rodale sites in order to… collect or store personal data about other users. How do they regulate this? How would they even know this was taking place? Perhaps they should offer a section of advice on how users can protect their information from other users.
- You agree not to use the Rodale sites in order to…solicit for advertisers or sponsors. This is a tricky one. Especially on sites like Runner’s World. Many bloggers on RW use the site to post race times, photos, and recent successes. If they unintentionally attract the attention of a sponsor, how would Rodale handle this?
