Is Discovery's Terms of Service safe?

Top concerning points

1. 1.

   You sign away moral rights

   blocker

   High

   Moral rights are rights to creators of literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, as well as directors of films. "The moral rights include the right of attribution, the right to have a work published anonymously or pseudonymously, and the right to the integrity of the work. The preserving of the integrity of the work allows the author to object to alteration, distortion, or mutilation of the work that is "prejudicial to the author's honor or reputation". Anything else that may detract from the artist's relationship with the work even after it leaves the artist's possession or ownership may bring these moral rights into play. Moral rights are distinct from any economic rights tied to copyrights. Even if an artist has assigned his or her copyright rights to a work to a third party, he or she still maintains the moral rights to the work." -Wikipedia In general, any terms that use the exact words "moral rights" as rights that are waived will fall under this Case.

   Source quote / document
2. 2.

   This service reserves the right to edit any content you post

   blocker

   High

   This service can edit any content on the service for whatever the reason and at their sole discretion.

   Source quote / document
3. 3.

   The service can delete specific content without reason and may do it without prior notice

   blocker

   High

   This service can delete specific content. Usually they will claim they reserve the right to do it at their sole discretion, which is legalese for saying they won't give a specific reason. If the terms say they will not notify you, it shall be included in the quote but if it does not explicitly say they will give you a notice, it can be reasonably inferred that they can do it without telling you.

   Source quote / document
4. 4.

   Private messages can be read

   blocker

   High

   The Service is able to access, scan, review or read all user communications, including private messages, which may contain personal or sensitive data.

   Source quote / document
5. 5.

   If you participate in sweepstakes, contests or promotions your identity is used in ads that are shown to other users

   blocker

   High

   Ads shown to other users may include a reference to you as an implied endorsement. Might give away information about your own personal lifestyle to strangers.

   Source quote / document
6. 6.

   This service still tracks you even if you opted out from tracking

   blocker

   High

   Users can’t fully opt out of tracking technologies used for non essential purposes such as advertising, marketing or analytics. The user may be asked for consent for installing some tracking technologies on the device, and even if all are rejected the service will still track its visitors and ignore the choice.This case doesn’t apply to functional cookies that are necessary to provide the services.

   Source quote / document
7. 7.

   The service uses your personal data to employ targeted third-party advertising

   bad

   High

   Your Personal Information is traded and shared with advertising companies to target ads on you, either on the website you were visiting or in third party websites. Your interaction with the service and data you have shared with them may be gathered to create an advertising ID or profile.

   Source quote / document
8. 8.

   This service tracks which web page referred you to it

   bad

   High

   The service logs the URL of the last web page you visited before and/or after visiting the Site and may use that information to gather more data about you.

   Source quote / document

Frequently asked questions

What is Discovery's ToS;DR privacy grade?

ToS;DR rates Discovery as Grade E. Grades range from A (best) to E (worst). See the full breakdown on ToS;DR.

Is Discovery's Terms of Service safe?

ToS;DR's Grade E means the terms raise serious concerns. Read the blocker and bad points carefully before accepting.

What is a top concern in Discovery's terms?

You sign away moral rights — Moral rights are rights to creators of literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, as well as directors of films. "The moral rights include the right of attribution, the right to have a work published anonymously or pseudonymously, and the right to the integrity of the work. The preserving of the integrity of the work allows the author to object to alteration, distortion, or mutilation of the work that is "prejudicial to the author's honor or reputation". Anything else that may detract from the artist's relationship with the work even after it leaves the artist's possession or ownership may bring these moral rights into play. Moral rights are distinct from any economic rights tied to copyrights. Even if an artist has assigned his or her copyright rights to a work to a third party, he or she still maintains the moral rights to the work." -Wikipedia In general, any terms that use the exact words "moral rights" as rights that are waived will fall under this Case. (Source: ToS;DR approved point).

Where can I read Discovery's official terms?

ToS;DR tracks "Privacy Policy" at https://corporate.discovery.com/privacy-policy/. Always prefer the official document over summaries.