Annie Murphy as Joan in Black Mirror S6 episode 1: Joan is Awful.
- Searches for “Netflix terms and conditions” increased by 1524% after the Black Mirror season six premiere, hitting a five-year peak.
- Immediately after the release, UK, US, and Australian residents were particularly interested in knowing more about the streaming service’s T&Cs.
- People worldwide are now also searching for updates to Netflix’s T&Cs.
The newest season of Charlie Brooker’s hit series Black Mirror prompted many viewers to rethink how quickly they accept the terms and conditions of service without reading them.
Independent online casino reviewer Casino Alpha discovered that searches for “Netflix terms and conditions” soared by 1524% right after the release of the new season of Black Mirror. This is the highest level of interest that Netflix’s T&Cs have sparked worldwide within the past five years.
The first episode of the sixth season of Black Mirror, released on 16 June, is called “Joan is Awful” and features a dramatic situation that resulted from a typical everyday mistake: accepting the terms and conditions of an online service without reading them.
Joan (Annie Murphy), an unremarkable woman, discovers a show about her on a streaming service (basically Netflix). The show, called Joan is Awful, ultimately ruins her life and reputation.
Annie Murphy as Joan in Black Mirror S6 episode 1: Joan is Awful.
Coinciding with the show’s premiere, Netflix then briefly released the “You Are Awful” experience, which resulted in numerous images of participants being used on billboards across the UK, much to their surprise.
The catch? The participants agreed to extreme terms and conditions, including using their image, name and even olfactory and thermal information.
Immediately after, people in the UK showed a significant interest in knowing more about Netflix’s terms and conditions, followed by those in Australia and the US. According to Casino Alpha, within just 80 hours of the release of the new season, 596% more people searched for “Netflix terms and conditions” on Google.
The spike continued the following week until it reached a 5-year high, soaring to 1524%.
SEE THE FINDINGS HERE:
Independent online casino reviewer Casino Alpha discovered searches for “Netflix terms and conditions” soared by 1524% right after the release of Black Mirror’s new season.
“Without triggering any spoiler alerts, it is clear that despite today’s awareness of data privacy concerns being higher than ever, it is so easy to forget that terms and conditions are, in fact, a contract,” Tudor Turiceanu, CEO of Casino Alpha commented on the findings.
Turiceanu added, “Companies know that, realistically, very few will sit there and read the T&Cs carefully, though clearly, as the data we analysed shows, many became more aware of them following Black Mirror’s first episode.”
“This may be a good time for policymakers to intervene and make it easier for users to understand what they are agreeing to because telling people to just read the small print rarely works. There is some relief, though, in knowing that companies will avoid hiding any Godzillas in the small print for fear of some Samaritan lawyer out there eventually spotting it.”
If you, like many others, are now interested, read Netflix’s Terms of Use HERE.
Created by Charlie Brooker, the British hit series Black Mirror explores the great leaps in technology, especially those involving screens, and the darker implications they may have.
First released in 2011, Black Mirror has won 27 awards, including six Emmys, totalling 109 nominations.
“Black Mirror’s sixth season is a fine collection of one-off stories, even if the plot twists can be predictable and the writing trite,” wrote News24 reviewer Joel Ontong.
“Things are darker than ever, but there is enough absurdity and humour to bring some balance. The show doesn’t hold a mirror to society but regurgitates the worst parts of society back to its audience. That type of cynicism is the show’s lifeblood, but sometimes it’s also a liability.”
REVIEW | Black Mirror is back and darker than ever with a genuinely enthralling 6th season of meta-narratives