system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
CMV: Terms of service agreement should be simple, short, and easy to read

Pretty much very time you sign up for a new service or download a new app you have to agree to a new terms of service. No one reads them. They are usually extremely long, complicated and convoluted documents. Everyone just hits agree and moves on because they just want to use the app/service, and companies know this. They know no one will read a 5000 word terms of service agreement just to use the app, and because of this they can put sneaky things into the terms of service agreement which allows companies to violate our digital privacy use our data in ways that we wouldn't agree to if we knew exactly what they were doing.

To put terms of service agreements in context, the U.S. constitution is 4543 words. Terms of service agreements can range from 2550 on the low end to 15,000 words in length. And, these terms of service agreements are written in legalese. On top of that, many companies have separate privacy policies that are just as long if not longer than their terms of service agreements. 

I think a law be passed that requires Terms of Service Agreements (TOS) to be short, simple and written in language that is easy to understand for regular people. It's not really an agreement if people are agreeing to things that they don't understand. How many terms are actually essential for a user to agree to before using the app? I'd argue, not much. There is no reason for a terms of service agreement or privacy policy to be over 1000 words and ideally it should be 500 or less, and it should always be written is language that is easy for everyone to understand. 

CMV!
gpt
You need the legalese because that's how you make sure you've covered everything. When you talk in broad strokes, you usually leave loopholes and technicalities open. When money is on the line, you need to make absolutely certain you're being as clear as possible, or else those loopholes appear and you have a nightmare in court.

Your own example of the US constitution actually works against you here: The US constitution has 4543 words, and for decades, you've been arguing about what it actually means, what the intentions of the forefathers were, and how it should be interpreted when it comes to making policy. The US constitution is a perfect example of a text that should have used more words to make itself clearer. If the 2nd Amendment was written in legalese and clear about what it meant for example, you would know exactly what the right to bear arms meant and would be having a much, much more effective conversation about how to reduce gun violence. 

So, I'd offer an alternative: Terms of service should be as long as they need to be, but they should offer a layman-accessible summary at the beginning that gives them a reasonable overview of what they can and can't do. That way, people can read the general content of the terms of service, but still have access to the precise terms should they need them - for example, if they ever need to sue a company for breaching the terms of service.