While millions are tirelessly searching for computer-generated monsters through the new smartphone app “Pokemon Go,” many users may have overlooked the rights they surrender by playing the game, including their rights to a trail by jury and to take class action against the game's developer, Niantic Labs.
First reported by The Consumerist, “Pokemon Go's” terms of service agreement contain this "arbitration notice":
A later section of the document (which all “Pokemon Go” players "agree" to before they can begin playing, although rarely does anyone read the terms of service) echoes the above clause:
Unless you timely provide Niantic with an Arbitration Opt-out Notice, you acknowledge and agree that you and Niantic are each waiving the right to a trial by jury or to participate as a plaintiff or class member in any purported class action or representative proceeding.
It is understandable that Niantic Labs does not wish to go to trial when, for instance, an individual injures themselves while playing the game. And people have injured themselves, then gone on to actually blame “Pokemon Go.”
However, preventing users to take class action is severely restrictive, especially if something goes wrong that affects a significant amount of players. According to Business Insider, "if the company was hacked [...] and all of its users' data got stolen, then these users wouldn't be able to collectively bring a case against the company."
On that point, the game does collect certain aspects of its users' personal information, including every player's email address according to the game's privacy policy, which also calls this information a "business asset." According to TechCrunch, "the company may share aggregated data with third parties, and identifiable user data with law enforcement agencies and other parties for a range of reasons it deems appropriate."
With some expressing fears that Niantic Labs has full access to a “Pokemon Go” player's Google account, it has become clear that playing the game, like all similarly-structured apps, comes with certain privacy risks. Nonetheless, Niantic Labs does allow users to opt out of the legal rights waiver, either by emailing the company at termsofservice@nianticlabs.com or by sending a letter to its offices in San Francisco, as long as such action is completed within 30 days of agreeing to the terms of service. Which, for many users, will be when they clicked "I agree" after downloading “Pokemon Go” before reading the terms of service.