Hello Steemians,

In this post, we want to discuss the recent updates to our Terms of Service (ToS) and Privacy Policy as well as respond to some of the feedback we received from the community as we attempted to apply changes to the website earlier this week.

ToS and Privacy Policy Updates

We had three primary objectives with respect to the recent updates. The first was to improve the language relating to the various components of the Steem blockchain. The second was to provide better guidance for the use of our trademarks and branding (while we develop our branding guidelines) by community developers. Finally, we wanted to clarify the differences between using the Steem blockchain and the services that we provide for our users.

The privacy policy updates were made to comply with the European Union (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requirements.

We also included a change to automatically prompt users to re-accept the ToS and Privacy Policy any time new versions are created. This ensures that users can always review and accept the latest terms every time there is a change.

We believe that the updates provide more clarity and that this will benefit both users and developers in the long run, but we welcome any feedback that could make them even more helpful.

Initial Rollout

Unfortunately, the initial rollout was not executed to our standards. Many users could not open the links to view the new ToS and Privacy Policy before accepting the changes. There were also some deficiencies in the text. We apologize for any inconvenience or confusion this may have caused. We have done our best to address the issues and to ensure they never happen again.

We want to thank everyone who took the time to bring these issues to our attention. We received a lot of valuable feedback from the community. A new ToS and Privacy Policy was published today, integrating much of the feedback we received. Thank you for all the helpful suggestions!

Anyone who previously accepted the ToS and Privacy Policy without being able to view them will be given a new prompt today to view and accept the latest terms.

Feedback Welcome

If you find any areas in the ToS or Privacy Policy confusing or you think any areas should be updated, please let us know. We will be happy to review them and see if we can make additional updates.

Thank you,

Team Steemit