Description

Understanding Our Role in the World of Big Data

Co-produced by Josh Neufeld and Al Jazeera America reporter Michael Keller, this comic examines the role of technology and the implications of sharing personal information. Follows Josh and Michael’s avatars as they learn about such topics as the “Unravelling Theory” and the so-called “Internet of Everything.”

Terms of Service examines the role of technology and the implications of sharing personal information. Terms of Service follows Keller and Neufeld’s comics avatars as they learn about such topics as the “Unravelling Theory” and the so-called “Internet of Everything.”

Terms of Service debuted online on Al Jazeera America’s website in late October 2014. It was the 2015 EPPY Award winner for Best Innovation Project on a Website.

Terms of Service (and its companion piece “Fare Game“) has been translated into French and German.

Praise for Terms of Service:

“Cartoon versions of Keller and Neufeld [are] smart, likable guides . . . explain[ing] the pitfalls of living in the age of Big Data. Terms is funny, informative, and ridiculously readable (and re-readable). And you’ll probably come away from it knowing more than you would from an 8,000-word explanatory piece on the same topic.”
— Editor & Publisher

“Perfectly explains big data and the threat it poses to our privacy rights . . . in a format that’s smart, breezy, and beautiful. . . . A rigorously reported piece of journalism . . . It doesn’t simplify the issue of big data and user privacy so much as it captures its complexity, through a combination of storytelling, reporting, and visual abstraction. And most importantly, the story isn’t closely pegged to the latest big data developments or breaking news. Instead, it’s told in a way that allows for sustained relevance — the mark of a truly great explainer.”
— Pando Daily

“An innovative online graphic novella . . . [that] uses comics to create a detailed but accessible narrative about the rise of electronic surveillance in a number of forms.”
— Publishers Weekly

“Terms of Service is a timely look at big data and digital privacy . . . and big discrimination, and it uses the storytelling tools of the graphic novel well. . . . And instead of telling you what you should think about online privacy, big data, and the implications for our future, it encourages you to ask those questions yourself.”
— ZDNet

“A less-than-rosy look at how big data is letting companies monetize your life — and come up with their own stories about you that you can’t control.”
— Poynter