Deal with the devil? Pokemon Go has a scary clause you should know about

Play Pokemon Go and you could be making a deal with the devil. At least, from a legal perspective.

LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) - An onerous clause in the Pokemon Go terms and conditions is gaining attention as players are informed they are surrendering key consumer rights. A clause requires players to actively opt out or else they cannot sue. Nor can users even participate in a class action suit. The only option consumers will have is individual, binding arbitration.

ARBITRATION NOTICE: EXCEPT IF YOU OPT OUT AND EXCEPT FOR CERTAIN TYPES OF DISPUTES DESCRIBED IN THE "AGREEMENT TO ARBITRATE" SECTION BELOW, YOU AGREE THAT DISPUTES BETWEEN YOU AND NIANTIC WILL BE RESOLVED BY BINDING, INDIVIDUAL ARBITRATION, AND YOU ARE WAIVING YOUR RIGHT TO A TRIAL BY JURY OR TO PARTICIPATE AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS ACTION OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING.

A user must send an email or letter to Ninantic, the makers of the game, to opt out of the clause. Those addresses are,

Ninantic email: termsofservice@nianticlabs.com

Snail mail: 2 Bryant St., Ste. 220, San Francisco, CA 94105.

Each user has 30 days to submit their correspondence or they will lose the right to sue or participate in a class action, should one develop.

A class action is a possibility because Pokemon Go has become a massive game. And it hoovers a lot of personal data, which makes the game's databases a target for hackers. Should there be a data breech, most players would have no rights or recourse except to plead their own case on an individual basis.

Ninantic, also reserves the right to share data with law enforcement for any reason. And the agreement requires if Pokemon Go is sold, players will have just 30 days to opt out of their data being transferred to the new owners.

Is this a deal with the devil? Arbitration clauses and terms and conditions are designed to give the side that writes the contract an advantage. In this case, Ninantic gets all the rights and benefits. You merely get to play the game. If Ninantic harms you in some way, for example, if your data is hacked and your identity stolen, you will have to fight the corporation's lawyers outside of court, all by yourself to recover any damages.

All this is perfectly legal, unless you disagree, in writing.

Of course, legal contracts exist for almost everything you buy, and they are so long and filled with jargon, that nobody reads them. In the 2010 one game company performed an experiment.

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Game Station in the UK, added this clause to one contract.

"By placing an order via this Web site on the first day of the fourth month of the year 2010 Anno Domini, you agree to grant Us a non transferable option to claim, for now and for ever more, your immortal soul. Should We wish to exercise this option, you agree to surrender your immortal soul, and any claim you may have on it, within 5 (five) working days of receiving written notification from gamesation.co.uk or one of its duly authorised minions."

The clause was a sort of experiment. They wanted to see how many people would actually read the contract. Those who objected to the clause could check a box and would receive a discount voucher as a reward. The company concluded from the experiment that 88 percent of its customers don't read the contract, they just automatically agree to it.

Retailers count on such widespread apathy. It allows them to reserve all the rights and privileges to themselves and minimizes their risk.

The lesson is simple. Buyer beware. Even a game like Pokemon Go, which everyone assumes is free, isn't free. It costs your personal data. And that data has value to developers and marketers.

The only good news here is the Pokemon Go terms and conditions do not mention your soul.

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