Before you sign anything
The traps that do not care what the document is called. They turn up in leases, in software terms, in a builder's quote and in a two-page freelance agreement alike.
9 traps
Every trap Redline looks for
You can be bound to arbitration, content licences and fees you never saw — a 2019 Disney+ trial was invoked against a wrongful-death claim and a minor's Uber Eats click bound her parents…
Small claims become uneconomic to pursue alone; streaming and app terms were invoked against physical-injury claims (Disney, Uber); opt-out deadlines are missed; confession of judgment…
If the service loses your data, is breached, wrongly bans you or bricks your device, recovery is trivial while your own exposure is uncapped; SMBs carry all downtime and security risk…
The contract you signed is not the one you will be held to: arbitration clauses, AI-training licences, new fees, reduced service or wider data sharing get inserted later, and 'continued…
Letting a card expire or deleting it is how many people try to cancel — these clauses defeat that, push charges to backup or reissued cards, trigger overdraft/NSF fees on repeated attempts…
Litigating in Santa Clara County or Dublin is impractical, so default judgments pile up and small claims die; rent-a-tribe and offshore law are used to escape usury caps; the wording…
You cannot know what you may say for the rest of your career; companies have billed customers thousands for a bad review (KlearGear $3,500); gags have suppressed harassment and…
Statutory limitation periods of 2-6 years are quietly cut to months while adjusting drags on; a missed notice step kills the claim; consumers discover the clause only when the insurer or…
The lender or landlord pursues the guarantor first; a guarantee signed for a 12-month student let or a supply account can run for years and cover strangers' arrears or debts after the…
What it looks like in a contract
Redline matches these phrases against your document verbatim. Drafters rarely invent new wording — they copy it, which is why the same sentences turn up across unrelated contracts.
- continued use after changesDeemed acceptance / browsewrap
- binding individual arbitrationForced arbitration, no class action
- no warranty of any kind'As is', capped liability
- we may modify these Terms at any timeUnilateral terms change
- any payment method associated with your accountCharge any linked card
- governed by the laws of the State of California without regard to conflict of law principlesForeign forum & law
Is it enforceable where you are
In the US, unconscionability and the FTC Act §5 bar on unfair and deceptive practices are the general backstops; in the EU and the UK, consumer standard terms are tested under Directive 93/13 and the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
- Cited
- Berman v. Freedom Financial
- Meyer v. Uber
- §308 Nr. 5 BGB
- 93/13 Annex (i)
- C-673/17
- DSA Art 14(1)
- CMA
- CMA37
- CRA 2015 Sch 2 para 10
- ICO
- 152-ФЗ
- ст. 13.11 КоАП
- ст. 428
- ст. 753 ГК
Check your own contract
A lease hides different things from a loan agreement, and a privacy policy hides different things again. Pick the document on your desk and see what usually goes wrong in it.