1. TripAdvisor -
Terms of Service
and Privacy
Do you know what happens to
the information you provide
online?
Online Policy Primer prepared by Net 303 student, Curtin University of Technology, October 2010

2. What are ‘Terms of Service’
and privacy statements?
If you have ever used an online service of any kind where
you have been required to ‘sign-up’ or register for an
account, you most probably would have ticked a box to
accept a Terms of Service statement.
Terms of Service - This statement outlines the conditions
that the user must abide by when using the website
service. It also contains notices about what the site does
with the information you provide.
Privacy - Relates to use of your personal information.

3. Why should I care about this?
It is important to understand how the information you
provide online is used and by whom.
Details about this are contained in the Terms of Service
or Terms of Use statements with additional information
included in a Privacy policy.
Most people don’t read or understand these documents
as they appear long and cumbersome, but it is your
responsibility to read and understand the contents of
these documents.
This presentation will outline some reasons why you
should read these documents.

4. So who or what is TripAdvisor?
TripAdvisor is a website where visitors can obtain
information and advice about hotels and restaurants from
everyday people who write about their experiences.
It is not just a travel website, it has expanded to include
restaurant reviews as well.
It boasts 20 million members in 23 countries ... including
CHINA!
It contains over 40 million traveller reviews.
For a quick overview of TripAdvisor, check out this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DH0J29sd4E

5. What can you do here?
There are a number of things to do on the TripAdvisor
website.
If you don’t want to register for an account, you can
browse the reviews but that is about it. You can’t interact
without registering.
If you register for a TripAdvisor account, the other
options available include:
The ability to write reviews
Post questions and answers to the forum
Receive newsletters
Create a travel map of places you’ve been that can be shared
with friends
Record your trip information

6. Sounds great...
So what’s the problem?
When you register to join sites such as this, where you
provide personal information, there are things that you
should be aware of.
While you might get enjoyment out of using these sites,
they are businesses and are usually looking to get
something in return.
In the case of TripAdvisor, when you find a hotel you like,
it is anticipated that you will click on the site to ‘get rates’
from TripAdvisor’s partner companies such as
Expedia.com
Some questions to ask yourself:
What information is collected and what are they doing with it?
Are they tracking the way I use the site?

7. How does TripAdvisor collect
information?
TripAdvisor collects personal information from users
during the registration process and when users update
their profile, including:
identifying information such as name, phone number, street
and email addresses, user name, password
Information about your computer is also collected when
you visit the website
Cookies are created and stored on your computer to
remember things about your visit to the website. It allows
TripAdvisor to target your browsing and the information they
provide to you.
You computer details collected includes your browser type,
referring website and IP address (which is your computer
identifier).

8. How is your information used?
By publishing information and content, including
your username, on the TripAdvisor website, you
give up all rights to that content, and agree that
TripAdvisor and its affiliates can:
“(a) use, reproduce, modify, adapt, translate, distribute,
publish, create derivative works from and publicly display
and perform such Submissions throughout the world in
any media, now known or hereafter devised; and (b) use
the name that you submit in connection with such
Submission.” (TripAdvisor website, 2010)
This means your content can be used how and where
they choose. This includes your username.

9. Other issues with TripAdvisor
While TripAdvisor appears to be quite considerate of
users privacy, there are some issues that users should be
aware of.
These include:
Checking how the information you publish will be used
Who is your information provided to - TripAdvisor ‘affiliates’ -
who are these?
What are the restrictions on the use of content
The age restrictions for registration on the site
Information provided to and from other ‘affiliated’ websites

10. Links from/to other sites
TripAdvisor also allows the user to connect to their
facebook account and show their friends their trip
planner, where they have been and where they want to
go.
It is optional for you to do this, and allowing the other site
access to your information can be disabled any time you
wish.
This is called a link to a third-party site.

11. Are you aged under 13yrs?
One of the conditions of use of the TripAdvisor website
is that you are at least 13 years of age.
While it is admirable that TripAdvisor does not want to
collect information from children under 13, there are no
checks in place to determine the age of a registering
user.
Are good intentions good enough?
Should TripAdvisor and other websites that collect
private information put in place further checks to ensure
users meet the age requirements?

12. What you can do to protect your
privacy
If you are a registered user of TripAdvisor, you have the
ability to ‘opt out’ of things by making changes in your
member profile.
This includes:
Marketing material sent by TripAdvisor
Member to member communication

13. What you cannot do on the site
Post content that you do not own or have the rights to
Post content that is offensive
Post illegal or criminal content
Violate any persons civil rights in any way
If any user violates the TripAdvisor agreement, then their
account may be terminated.

14. Keep checking
Websites, including TripAdvisor, have the right to make
changes to their Terms of Service and privacy policy
whenever they want.
It is up to you, the user, to make sure you periodically
return to these policies and make sure they are still
acceptable to you.
This is YOUR responsibility, not the responsibility of the
website

15. Keep your information safe
What do
these
terms
mean to
you?
What do
these
terms
mean to
you?

16. Want to find out more?
Privacy
There is a large amount of information about privacy on the
website of the Australian Privacy Commissioner:
http://www.privacy.gov.au/
TripAdvisor
They have their own YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/TripAdvisor
Each country’s version of TripAdvisor will have a unique
version of the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Please check
the relevant documents for your country. Australia’s version
is available here:
http://www.tripadvisor.com.au/pages/terms.html

17. References
TripAdvisor (n.d.). TripAdvisor.com.au Website Terms,
Conditions and Notices. Retrieved October 5, 2010,
from http://www.tripadvisor.com.au/pages/terms.html
TripAdvisor (n.d.). TripAdvisor.com.au Website Terms,
Conditions and Notices. Retrieved October 5, 2010,
from http://www.tripadvisor.com.au/pages/privacy.html
Privacy2 [Image] (n.d.). Retrieved October 23, 2010,
from
http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/2619938/privacy2