TermsRating
Companies / Sony / PlayStation Plus

Sony PlayStation Plus

10 serious, 5 to watch. Found 18 of 23 practices.
Applies to: everyday users.
F

Do they get wide rights to what you post or upload?Yes

By utilizing such functionality, you grant SIE a royalty-free, perpetual, global license to use, distribute, copy, modify, display, and publish your UGC for any reason, without further notice or payment to you or any third parties. You further authorize SIE to sublicense its rights to any third party, including its affiliates.
playstation.com/en-us/legal/terms-of-service, lines 70–70
In plain wordsBy using these features, you give the company permanent, worldwide permission to use, change, and share anything you post however they want without paying you. They can also let other companies use your content without your further permission.

Do they sell or share your data?Yes

By utilizing such functionality, you grant SIE a royalty-free, perpetual, global license to use, distribute, copy, modify, display, and publish your UGC for any reason, without further notice or payment to you or any third parties. You further authorize SIE to sublicense its rights to any third party, including its affiliates.
playstation.com/en-us/legal/terms-of-service, lines 70–70
In plain wordsBy using these features, you give the company permission to use, change, and share your content with other companies for any reason. They can also give other people or businesses the right to use your content without paying you or asking for further permission.

Do you give up the right to sue?Yes

If you have a Dispute with any Sony Entity or any of a Sony Entity’s officers, directors, employees and agents that cannot be resolved through negotiation within the time frame described in the "Notice of Dispute" clause below, you and the Sony Entity that you have a Dispute with agree to seek resolution of the Dispute only through arbitration of that Dispute in accordance with the terms of this section, and not litigate any Dispute in court, except for those matters listed in the Exclusions from Arbitration clause. Arbitration means that the Dispute will be resolved by a neutral arbitrator instead of in a court by a judge or jury. 14.2. Exclusions from Arbitration.
playstation.com/en-us/legal/terms-of-service, lines 175–176
In plain wordsYou are agreeing to resolve legal disagreements through a private arbitrator instead of a judge or jury. This means you cannot file a lawsuit in court or participate in a class action lawsuit for most disputes.

Do they refuse responsibility when things break?Yes

We may change, add or remove functionalities or features in our PlayStationServices, and we may suspend or stop our services altogether. We do not warrant that the service and content will be uninterrupted, error-free or without delays. In addition to the limitations of liability of this Agreement, we expressly disclaim any implied warranty of merchantability, warranty of fitness for a particular purpose and warranty of non-infringement. We assume no liability for any inability to purchase, access, download or use any content, data or service.
playstation.com/en-us/legal/terms-of-service, lines 215–215
In plain wordsThe company can stop providing services at any time and does not promise that the service will always work correctly. They also refuse to be held responsible if you are unable to access or use your content and services.

Do they combine your data across products?Yes

We may receive PI from third party sources and combine it with PI we already collect from you. We may also collect PI from third party publicly available services, including those that share user generated content. We will handle the PI in accordance with this Privacy Policy. PI we receive from third party sources includes: PI from game and social media companies with whom you link your Account, who power our Services, or whose services you access while signed in to your Account. PI from other people, for example if someone engages with you or your content on our Services, submits a report of inappropriate behaviour or otherwise provides PI about you.
playstation.com/en-us/legal/privacy-policy, lines 299–301
In plain wordsThe company merges information they get from outside sources, such as social media or other people, with the information they already have about you. This creates a more complete profile of your activities and identity.

Can they cut you off any time?Yes

Any game ranking, scores, trophies, Virtual Items, including virtual currency balances (whether earned or purchased), subscriptions, or other information saved on, or requiring connection to our Services will not be retained or accessible. Account termination is irreversible. UPON TERMINATION OF YOUR ACCOUNT (OR ANY ASSOCIATED CHILD ACCOUNT) FOR ANY REASON, YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE A REFUND FOR ITEMS (INCLUDING SUBSCRIPTIONS, VIRTUAL ITEMS, AND PRE-PAID PRODUCTS OR SERVICES), VALUE ACCUMULATED ON IN-GAME ITEMS OR ANY UNUSED BALANCE IN YOUR WALLET, EXCEPT AS REQUIRED BY LAW OR AS EXPRESSLY PROVIDED IN THIS AGREEMENT. 12.4. Effect of Account Termination on Child Accounts.
playstation.com/en-us/legal/terms-of-service, lines 162–164
In plain wordsThis clause means the company can permanently delete your account and all your progress, items, and money without giving you a refund. Once your account is closed, you lose everything and cannot get it back.

Do they use your data to target ads?Yes

Subject to your Account settings, we may target and personalize our marketing communications and advertisements (including those displayed on our Services and third party websites and services) based on the PI we have collected about you. You may notice this personalization on the PlayStation Store (whether via console, our website, or in-game), in marketing communications, or when you visit our and third party websites (such as social network sites) that show advertisements from us. We may also use this data to measure the performance of our websites, advertisements, and marketing campaigns, to understand how they can be improved and to pay or be paid for the placing of advertisements.
playstation.com/en-us/legal/privacy-policy, lines 323–323
In plain wordsThe company uses your personal information to show you personalized ads and marketing both on their own platforms and on other websites. You can change your settings in your account to limit how much of your data is used for this purpose.

Can they change the deal without asking?Yes

We may modify the terms of this Agreement at any time, including imposing a fee for creating Accounts or for any of our Services. A printable copy of this Agreement is available at www.playstation.com/legal. If material changes to this Agreement are made, you will be notified by e-mail or other communication when you sign in to theServices. Your continued use of theServices, including use by your children on the associated Accounts, will signify your acceptance of those changes.
playstation.com/en-us/legal/terms-of-service, lines 208–209
In plain wordsThe company can change these rules whenever they want, and if you keep using their services, you are automatically agreeing to the new terms. If you don't like a major change, your only option is to stop using the services and close your account.

Can your data go to a buyer if the company is sold?Yes

Sony group companies, to provide you with content, products, or services, including games, videos, music, software and software applications; for community administration or development; to support various business and security processes; research and development; and so that other Sony group companies may contact you about products, services or other offerings that may be of interest to you. usiness transfer partners, in connection with the negotiation and sale of the applicable business, a portion of the business, or certain stock and/or assets, or a corporate merger, consolidation, restructuring, or other corporate change including during any due diligence process. Other Users
playstation.com/en-us/legal/privacy-policy, lines 342–344
In plain wordsIf the company is sold, merged, or restructured, your personal information may be transferred to the new owners or business partners. This includes during the early stages of negotiations or business reviews.

Must disputes be settled in their chosen court?Yes

Any dispute not subject to arbitration and not initiated in small claims court may be brought by either party in a court of competent jurisdiction in either the Superior Courts for the State of California in and for the County of San Mateo or in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Each party submits itself to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of those courts, and waives all jurisdictional, venue and inconvenient forum objections to those courts. In any litigation to enforce any part of this Agreement, all costs and fees, including attorney’s fees, will be paid by the non-prevailing party. 16. GENERAL LEGAL 16.1. Modifications.
playstation.com/en-us/legal/terms-of-service, lines 205–207
In plain wordsIf you want to sue Sony, you are forced to file your case only in specific courts in San Mateo County or the Northern District of California. You are giving up your right to use a court closer to your home.

Can they read your private messages?Partly

Under our Terms of Service, you and our other users are required to comply with our Code of Conduct. As such, we may monitor, review and record your online activities, communications (including messages, images, videos and voice communications) and content throughout our Services for the purposes of assessing whether these activities, communications, and content comply with our Terms of Service, our Code of Conduct, and any other terms or rules applicable to your use of our Services (together, "Terms”) or applicable law.
playstation.com/en-us/legal/privacy-policy, lines 320–320
In plain wordsThe company may monitor and review your private messages, images, and videos to make sure you are following their rules and the law.

Can they hand your data to authorities without telling you?Partly

We may index and use content which you have shared publicly, as part of our platform’s features like Game Help, PlayStation profiles, or future Services. We may act on any harmful content you share, including as described in the Moderation & Safety section of this Privacy Policy. Government & Authorities We may share your PI with law enforcement, government, and other authorities if we believe that it is reasonably necessary to comply with a law, regulation, or legal process, to detect, protect and enforce the safety of any person, their property or their rights, to address fraud and security and report criminal activity. Personal Information Handling Children’s Personal Information
playstation.com/en-us/legal/privacy-policy, lines 350–355
In plain wordsThe company may share your information with authorities if they believe it is necessary to follow the law or ensure safety, and they do not promise to notify you when this happens.

Do they track you across sites, apps or places?Partly

If you interact with our Services, marketing communications, or advertising (on our or third party websites and services), we may automatically log your activity through the use of cookies (which are small text files stored on your computer) or similar technologies such as web beacons or tracking pixels. These technologies allow us to recognise you and remember your visit and preferences. We use cookies and similar technologies to provide our Services, including to monitor, secure and maintain our Services, detect and prevent fraud, analyze and improve our Services, and for advertising purposes. Personal Information We Receive from Third Parties
playstation.com/en-us/legal/privacy-policy, lines 297–298
In plain wordsThe company uses cookies and tracking tools to follow your activity on both their own websites and third-party sites. This allows them to recognize you and track your behavior for advertising and service improvement purposes.

Do they use what you post to train AI?Partly

To develop, understand, improve and enhance our Services and your experience, and to develop and enhance technologies: for example, we may use PI to develop and optimise user interfaces, game performance, or new technologies, including developing and training artificial intelligence and machine learning models. In addition, we may use information that does not identify you individually (such as de-identified or aggregated information) for business, operational, analytical or other purposes. Moderation and Safety
playstation.com/en-us/legal/privacy-policy, lines 317–319
In plain wordsThe company can use your personal information to train its artificial intelligence and machine learning models. This means your data may be used to help teach their systems how to function and improve.

Does your subscription renew by itself?Partly

We may offer you the opportunity to purchase subscriptions (which may also be referred to as "memberships" or "services") that provide access to certain content, products, or services for a specified period of time. If your subscription is ongoing and renews automatically, you will be charged the applicable subscription fee automatically at the frequency you chose at purchase until you cancel If your wallet doesn’t have enough funds when an automatic recurring subscription payment is due, the balance will be automatically funded from your default Approved Payment Method on file to cover the subscription fee.
playstation.com/en-us/legal/terms-of-service, lines 101–101
In plain wordsIf you choose a subscription that renews automatically, you will be charged again at your chosen interval unless you cancel it. If your primary payment method lacks funds, the system will automatically use your default backup method to cover the cost.

Checked, nothing hostile

  • Does not deny responsibility for leaks of your data.
  • Does not say it keeps your data forever or after you delete your account.
  • Does not lock you into a year-long or longer commitment or charge you to leave early.

Not covered by these documents

The documents we read do not mention these practices, which usually live in a document we haven’t read yet:

  • Do they refuse to let you delete your account?
  • Do they keep rights to your content after you leave?
  • Can your name or photo appear in ads?
  • Do you pay their legal bills?
  • Do they own your ideas and feedback?