This presentation analyses eBay's Terms of Use, with a focus on privacy. This presentation is licensed under a Creative Commons Attrtibution Share-Alike 3.0 Australia License.

1. eBay.com.au
Do you know what you signed up for?

2. To become a eBay member you must be an
individual (not a corporation) and over 18
(if you are under 18 you require parental
supervision).
(“User Agreement,” n.d., para. 7; “eBay Privacy Policy,” n.d., para. 6)

3. It is free to join and to bid, but there
are fees to list and sell items.
(“User Agreement,” n.d. para. 9)

4. But most importantly....

5. Before signing up to eBay you must
read, agree to and accept
all their terms and conditions.
(“User Agreement,” n.d., para. 2)

6. Whether you have read all of these,
skimmed over them, or completely
disregarded them, you might want to
pay attention now and see what you
really signed up for ...

7. Once you become
an eBay member,
a great deal of
information is
collected about
you by eBay.
(“eBay Privacy Policy,” n.d.)

8. Your movements on the eBay website...
(“eBay Privacy Policy,” n.d., para. 9)
The URL you left before coming to eBay...
(“eBay Privacy Policy,” n.d., para. 9)
The URL you go to after signing into eBay...
(“eBay Privacy Policy,” n.d., para. 9)
The browser you are using....
(“eBay Privacy Policy,” n.d., para. 9)
Your IP address....
(“eBay Privacy Policy,” n.d., para. 9)
What you bid for, buy and sell...
(“eBay Privacy Policy,” n.d., para. 12)
Your billing address...
(“eBay Privacy Policy,” n.d., para. 8)
Your credit card number and expiration
date...
(“eBay Privacy Policy,” n.d., para. 8)
And MUCH more...
For what exact information eBay collects about you visit:
http://pages.ebay.com.au/help/policies/privacy-appendix.html

9. This information when combined
can say a lot about you, and can
work to identify you. Potentially
destroying your privacy.
(Barbaro & Zeller, 2006, p. 3; “Fact Sheet 18,” 2012, para. 5)

10. Some of this information you are required to
provide as a user of eBay...
(“eBay Privacy Policy,” (n.d.), para. 9)

11. This CANNOT be falsified.
You must provide VALID contact details.
(“The Rules for Everyone Overview,” n.d., para. 5)

12. This is because, the eBay community
requires some level of honesty due to the
site’s nature. It is about getting the right
balance of privacy and trust.

13. While eBay users require privacy
to feel safe when carrying out
financial transactions with
strangers on the site, anonymity
is also impossible. Buyers need
some personal information about
the sellers (such as contact
details, and user ratings) in order
to trust they will receive the
product they purchase.
(Bella, Giustolisi & Riccobene, 2011, p. 706)

14. Would you buy from an
anonymous seller with no
contact details, feedback
or ratings?

15. The rest of your information is collected by
eBay using data collection tools such as
“cookies” ...
(“eBay Privacy Policy,” (n.d.), para. 9)

16. “Cookies” are files downloaded onto your
computer’s hard drive that track your
movements and save personal
information such as your password.
(“eBay Privacy Policy,” (n.d.), para. 9)

17. While they are stored on your computer,
eBay still has access to
the information stored
in these cookies
whenever you visit
their site.
(Fact Sheet 18,” 2012, para. 31)

18. It is possible to clear the cookies on your
hard drive after each session.
(Fact Sheet 18,” 2012, para. 30)

19. You can also decline eBay’s cookies if your
browser allows it. However by doing this
you may not be able to use parts of
their website, and may have to re-enter
your password more frequently.
(“eBay Privacy Policy,” (n.d.), para. 9)

20. ....making it as difficult as possible for users
to avoid their information getting collected.

21. How does eBay use the information
it collects?
Marketing Customising
campaigns their site
Improving Analysing
content site
usage
(“eBay Privacy Policy,” n.d., para. 20)

22. They claim your information
is used to personalise your
eBay experience....
(“eBay Privacy Policy,” n.d., para. 7)
.... but this also helps eBay
make more money.
(“Fact Sheet 18,” 2012; Bella, Giustolisi & Riccobene, 2011, p. 705)

23. eBay might also pass your information onto....
Members of the
eBay
Community
THE GOVERNMENT
(“eBay Privacy Policy,” n.d., para. 24-29)

24. So is your information
really safe?

25. Not Necessarily....
“Although eBay uses industry standard
practices to protect your personal information,
due to technical limitations, we cannot
ensure that all of your private
communications and other personal
information will never be disclosed in other
ways not otherwise described in this Privacy
Policy.”
(“eBay Privacy Policy,” n.d., para. 22)

26. So, in other words...
eBay CANNOT
guarantee that
your information
will remain private.
(“eBay Privacy Policy,” n.d., para. 22)

27. It seems that with e-commerce,
“profitability has become
more important than
privacy.”
(Brown & Muchira, 2004, p. 65)

28. And what happens
if this information
was to get into the
wrong hands....?

29. eBay is not responsible
“for lost profits or any special, incidental or
consequential damages arising out of or in
connection with our site, our services or this
agreement”
(“User Agreement,” n.d., para.68)

30. In other words, eBay is not liable for any
damages you encounter if the information
they have collected about you was to find
itself in the wrong hands.

31. Wish you read the
terms and conditions
now?

32. References
Barbaro, M., & Zeller Jr., T. (2006, August 9). A Face Is Exposed for AOL Searcher No.
4417749. The New York Times. Retrieved from
http://w2.eff.org/Privacy/AOL/exhibit_d.pdf
Bella, G., Giustolisi, R., & Riccobene, S. (2011). Enforcing privacy in e-commerce by
balancing anonymity and trust. Computers & Security, 30, 705-718. doi:
10.1016/j.cose.2011.08.005
Brown, M., & Muchira, R. (2004). Investigating the Relationship between Internet Privacy
Concerns and Online Purchase Behavior. Journal of Electronic Commerce Research,
5(1), 62-70. Retrieved from
http://www.csulb.edu/web/journals/jecr/issues/20041/Paper6.pdf
eBay Privacy Policy. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://pages.ebay.com.au/help/policies/privacy-
policy.html
Fact Sheet 18: Online Privacy: Using the Internet Safely. (2012). Retrieved from
https://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs18-cyb.htm
Rules for Everyone Overview. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://pages.ebay.com.au/help/policies/everyone-ov.html
User Agreement. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://pages.ebay.com.au/help/policies/user-
agreement.html

33. eBay.com.au: Do You Know What You
Signed Up For? by Emily Lloyd is licensed
under a Creative Commons Attribution-
ShareAlike 3.0 Australia License.
Based on a work at
http://www.slideshare.net/EmilyGL.