JUST how many people will take the time to read the terms and conditions when a project to bring free public wi-fi to the centre of Bathurst is up and running by the end of next year?
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You can bet it will be precious few, though plenty will be happy to use the wi-fi on offer.
So that means Bathurst Regional Council can place basically any conditions it wants on access to the network – and they clearly intend to do just that.
Free wi-fi is the new opiate of the masses, particularly among younger users who might have only limited data plans attached to their mobile devices.
So if free wi-fi is available, they’re not going to waste time reading the fine print.
An English wi-fi company this year decided to put its customers to the test by completely rewriting the terms and conditions for accessing its network at a range of Manchester franchise outlets.
It was reported in July that more than 20,000 signed up for the wi-fi in a two-week period, agreeing – under the new terms and conditions – to perform 1000 hours of community service, undertaking such gruesome tasks as cleaning toilets at music festivals, scraping chewing gum off the streets and unblocking sewers.
The company also offered a reward to anyone who got through the terms and conditions and contacted them to point out the onerous requirements. Just one did.
Under the Bathurst Regional Council wi-fi arrangements, users will be subjecting themselves to monitoring by data analytics software that will analyse “device user movements” through the CBD wi-fi zones.
Information gathered through the wi-fi monitoring will be passed to “council departments, local businesses and community” to use as they see fit.
It’s just the sort of plan that might have sparked outrage a few years ago but there’s a sense that privacy is not what it used to be.
While older generations might still guard the right to keep to themselves, younger generations who have grown up on a staple diet of over-sharing on social media seem far less concerned about who might know what and when.
Their reluctance to read terms and conditions might be less about laziness than it is about a genuine belief that if Big Brother is watching then that doesn’t really bother them.
Whatever the reason, the lure of free wi-fi is sure to be enough to keep them from contemplating the possible consequences.
