Amazon

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Amazon is the top retailer on our list and has "Conditions of Use," "Privacy Notice," and "Interest-Based Ads" agreements for visitors to their site. Like the other platform sites discussed, having several policies incorporated by reference makes it difficult for consumers to keep track of what the agree to as part of using the site (yes, use constitutes acceptance of the terms). As a platform full of proprietary and third-party content it is not surprising that Amazon asks for zero liability from content posted by others but they ask for the same limits on liability for use of the site in general. Perhaps the most important section is the Privacy Notice which details how information is collected and shared. Luckily, information is not permitted to be shared with third-parties unless it is not personally identifiable or is required to perform a specific function. Still, with so many third-parties in use to run Amazon.com, that means a lot of data sharing.

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Representations, Warranties, & Limitation of Liability

 

"THE AMAZON SERVICES AND ALL INFORMATION, CONTENT, MATERIALS, PRODUCTS (INCLUDING SOFTWARE) AND OTHER SERVICES INCLUDED ON OR OTHERWISE MADE AVAILABLE TO YOU THROUGH THE AMAZON SERVICES ARE PROVIDED BY AMAZON ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS, UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED IN WRITING. AMAZON MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AS TO THE OPERATION OF THE AMAZON SERVICES, OR THE INFORMATION, CONTENT, MATERIALS, PRODUCTS (INCLUDING SOFTWARE) OR OTHER SERVICES INCLUDED ON OR OTHERWISE MADE AVAILABLE TO YOU THROUGH THE AMAZON SERVICES, UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED IN WRITING. YOU EXPRESSLY AGREE THAT YOUR USE OF THE AMAZON SERVICES IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK.

TO THE FULL EXTENT PERMISSIBLE BY LAW, AMAZON DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. AMAZON DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE AMAZON SERVICES, INFORMATION, CONTENT, MATERIALS, PRODUCTS (INCLUDING SOFTWARE) OR OTHER SERVICES INCLUDED ON OR OTHERWISE MADE AVAILABLE TO YOU THROUGH THE AMAZON SERVICES, AMAZON'S SERVERS OR ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS SENT FROM AMAZON ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. TO THE FULL EXTENT PERMISSIBLE BY LAW, AMAZON WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES OF ANY KIND ARISING FROM THE USE OF ANY AMAZON SERVICE, OR FROM ANY INFORMATION, CONTENT, MATERIALS, PRODUCTS (INCLUDING SOFTWARE) OR OTHER SERVICES INCLUDED ON OR OTHERWISE MADE AVAILABLE TO YOU THROUGH ANY AMAZON SERVICE, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE, AND CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED IN WRITING."

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Indemnification

 

Under the heading "Reviews, Comments, Communications, and Other Content" Amazon asks for indemnification from all claims arising from content posted by the user. Specifically, "that you will indemnify Amazon for all claims resulting from content you supply. Amazon has the right but not the obligation to monitor and edit or remove any activity or content. Amazon takes no responsibility and assumes no liability for any content posted by you or any third party." 

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Key Definitions

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Oddly, despite lengthy "Conditions of Use," "Privacy Notice," and "Interest-based Ads" policies there are no core definition sections in these agreements. Amazon provides some explanations and examples of types of data they collect and share and gives some guidance as to how to determine a third-party on the site, but strict definitions are absent. 

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Sharing Agreements

 

• Affiliated Businesses We Do Not Control: We work closely with affiliated businesses. In some cases, such as Marketplace sellers, these businesses operate stores at Amazon.com or sell offerings to you at Amazon.com. In other cases, we operate stores, provide services, or sell product lines jointly with these businesses. Click here for some examples of co-branded and joint offerings. You can tell when a third party is involved in your transactions, and we share customer information related to those transactions with that third party. 

• Third-Party Service Providers: We employ other companies and individuals to perform functions on our behalf. Examples include fulfilling orders, delivering packages, sending postal mail and e-mail, removing repetitive information from customer lists, analyzing data, providing marketing assistance, providing search results and links (including paid listings and links), processing credit card payments, and providing customer service. They have access to personal information needed to perform their functions, but may not use it for other purposes. 

• Promotional Offers: Sometimes we send offers to selected groups of Amazon.com customers on behalf of other businesses. When we do this, we do not give that business your name and address. If you do not want to receive such offers, please adjust your Customer Communication Preferences . 

• Business Transfers: As we continue to develop our business, we might sell or buy stores, subsidiaries, or business units. In such transactions, customer information generally is one of the transferred business assets but remains subject to the promises made in any pre-existing Privacy Notice (unless, of course, the customer consents otherwise). Also, in the unlikely event that Amazon.com, Inc., or substantially all of its assets are acquired, customer information will of course be one of the transferred assets. 

• Protection of Amazon.com and Others: We release account and other personal information when we believe release is appropriate to comply with the law; enforce or apply our Conditions of Use and other agreements; or protect the rights, property, or safety of Amazon.com, our users, or others. This includes exchanging information with other companies and organizations for fraud protection and credit risk reduction. Obviously, however, this does not include selling, renting, sharing, or otherwise disclosing personally identifiable information from customers for commercial purposes in violation of the commitments set forth in this Privacy Notice. 

• With Your Consent: Other than as set out above, you will receive notice when information about you might go to third parties, and you will have an opportunity to choose not to share the information.

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