In a playful experiment conducted by Dan Neidle of Tax Policy Associates in the United Kingdom, a free bottle of wine offer was hidden within the online privacy agreement of a company’s website. Neidle wanted to highlight the fact that very few people actually take the time to read these legal agreements, despite the requirement for all businesses to have them. The offer went unnoticed for several months, proving Neidle’s point and showcasing the lack of attention paid to these documents.
The offer was cleverly placed in the fine print of the privacy agreement, nestled between information about browser cookies and advertising. It read, “We will send a bottle of wine to the first person to read this.” Despite the seemingly enticing offer, nobody claimed the free wine until May. Even then, the recipient did not discover it by chance but was intentionally looking for examples to use in their own fine print. The wine offer was finally claimed, and the recipient received a bottle of 2013 Château de Sales, a Merlot-dominant blend with bright notes of redcurrant and raspberry.
Neidle shared his experiment on Twitter, revealing that the free bottle of wine had finally been claimed. He also mentioned that his non-profit organization had previously hidden a similar offer when it launched two years ago, and it took four months for someone to notice it. The repeat experiment was conducted to determine if people were paying more attention to these online privacy agreements, only to discover that the results were consistent with the first attempt – very few people actually read the fine print.
This experiment sheds light on the ineffectiveness of online privacy agreements and the lack of attention paid to these legal documents by consumers. Neidle’s intention was not only to have a bit of fun but also to draw attention to the requirements imposed on businesses to have these policies in place. Despite the hidden offer of a free bottle of wine, it went unnoticed for several months, underscoring the fact that the majority of individuals do not take the time to read through these lengthy and tedious documents.
The website’s privacy agreement contained a legal offer that was cleverly hidden within the text, showing that even seemingly engaging offers may go unnoticed if buried in the fine print. Neidle’s experiment exposed the widespread practice of ignoring online privacy agreements and the tedious legal requirements placed on businesses. The overall outcome of the experiment demonstrated that very few people pay attention to these legal documents, even when there is a seemingly appealing offer hidden within them. This highlights the need for businesses to find more engaging ways to communicate important information to consumers without relying solely on lengthy legal agreements.
