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"Like" General Mills and lose the right to sue (Update: GM has dropped controversial new policy)
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/17/b...brand-online-voids-the-right-to-sue.html?_r=0
Well, this is scary.
General Mills has just changed its privacy policy so that anyone who interacts with it online or even buys one of its products cannot sue if harmed, but must undergo "arbitration" -- that notoriously industry-friendly end-run around the legal system -- instead.
Just pulling a few things out of that quote for emphasis:
Consumers give up their right to sue the company if they :
* download coupons
* “join” it in online communities like Facebook
* enter a company-sponsored sweepstakes or contest
As General Mills said on its website (bolding mine):
UPDATE: Apparently General Mills quickly backpedalled once word of this went viral. They have gone back to the old privacy policy.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/17/b...brand-online-voids-the-right-to-sue.html?_r=0
Well, this is scary.
General Mills has just changed its privacy policy so that anyone who interacts with it online or even buys one of its products cannot sue if harmed, but must undergo "arbitration" -- that notoriously industry-friendly end-run around the legal system -- instead.
General Mills, the maker of cereals like Cheerios and Chex as well as brands like Bisquick and Betty Crocker, has quietly added language to its website to alert consumers that they give up their right to sue the company if they download coupons, “join” it in online communities like Facebook, enter a company-sponsored sweepstakes or contest or interact with it in a variety of other ways.
Instead, anyone who has received anything that could be construed as a benefit and who then has a dispute with the company over its products will have to use informal negotiation via email or go through arbitration to seek relief, according to the new terms posted on its site.
In language added on Tuesday after The New York Times contacted it about the changes, General Mills seemed to go even further, suggesting that buying its products would bind consumers to those terms.
Just pulling a few things out of that quote for emphasis:
Consumers give up their right to sue the company if they :
* download coupons
* “join” it in online communities like Facebook
* enter a company-sponsored sweepstakes or contest
As General Mills said on its website (bolding mine):
Please note we also have new legal terms which require all disputes related to the purchase or use of any General Mills product or service to be resolved through binding arbitration.
UPDATE: Apparently General Mills quickly backpedalled once word of this went viral. They have gone back to the old privacy policy.
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