US Terms of Service updated March 2021

General Discussion
1

Samsung has updated their terms of service, at least in the US, recently. When you go to sign into the IDE you will be asked to agree to those terms if you have not previously.

Nothing very much is altered: they still promise nothing, have no guarantee of service continuation, can change or discontinue anything at any time, and are not responsible under “any theory of law“ for any liability if anything changes or fails to work. Oh, and you can’t sue them in court, you have to go through arbitration.

The only thing that really jumped out at me as a change is the first one: that they are not promising that third-party devices “ despite supporting the same standards“ will work or continue to work. Hmmmm… :thinking:

Anyway, here from the actual text:

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Samsung SmartThings | CERTAIN PRODUCTS AND/OR THIRD-PARTY PRODUCTS MAY NOT WORK, OR MAY CEASE TO WORK WITH SMART THINGS, DESPITE SUPPORTING THE SAME STANDARDS. WE DO NOT PROVIDE ANY GUARANTEE OR WARRANTY OF COMPATIBILITY FOR THIRD-PARTY PRODUCTS, EVEN IF SUCH THIRD-PARTY PRODUCTS ARE ACCESSIBLE THROUGH SMART THINGS. PLEASE NOTE THAT IF YOU ADD MEMBERS, SUCH MEMBERS WILL HAVE FULL ACCESS AND CONTROL OVER ANY AND ALL OF YOUR CONNECTED PRODUCTS.

https://us.account.samsung.com/accounts/v1/ST/termsDetail#

CHANGE | We may, at any time:

      1. Change, add, suspend, or remove features from our Services.
      1. Suspend or terminate your right to use our Services, including access to your account or data.
      1. Pre-screen, review, flag, filter, modify, refuse, reject, block access to or remove any or all content from our Services.
        …
        NOTICE | We will provide you with reasonable notice of any change, suspension or discontinuation of our Services, unless it is urgently required, in which case we will notify you at the same time as the change, suspension or discontinuation. To the maximum extent permitted by Applicable Law, we will not be liable to you or to any third party if we exercise such rights.

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY | TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, OUR SERVICES ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND ON AN “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND FROM US, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES OR OTHER TERMS EXPRESSED, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR TERMS OF MERCHANTABILITY, SATISFACTORY QUALITY, WORKMANLIKE EFFORT, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, RELIABILITY OR AVAILABILITY, ACCURACY, LACK OF VIRUSES, NON-INFRINGEMENT OF THIRD-PARTY RIGHTS, OR OTHER VIOLATION OF RIGHTS. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW EXCLUSIONS OR LIMITATIONS OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES, SO THE ABOVE EXCLUSIONS OR LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. NO ADVICE OR INFORMATION, WHETHER ORAL OR WRITTEN, OBTAINED BY YOU FROM US OR OUR AFFILIATES SHALL BE DEEMED TO ALTER OUR DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY REGARDING OUR SERVICES, OR TO CREATE ANY WARRANTY OF ANY SORT FROM US.

WITHOUT LIMITING THE PREVIOUS DISCLAIMER, AND TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, WE DO NOT REPRESENT, WARRANT, OR GUARANTEE THAT OUR SERVICES OR THE CONTENT THEREIN WILL (i) OPERATE IN AN UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE, OR ERROR-FREE MANNER; (ii) WILL BE FREE FROM ALL HARMFUL COMPONENTS OR ERRORS; (iii) WILL BE SECURE OR IMMUNE (INCLUDING THE CONTENT DELIVERED TO YOU OR THE INFORMATION YOU PROVIDED) FROM UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS; OR (iv) WILL BE ACCURATE, COMPLETE, OR RELIABLE, THAT THE QUALITY OF THE SERVICES WILL BE SATISFACTORY TO YOU, OR THAT ERRORS WILL BE CORRECTED. IN ADDITION, WE DO NOT WARRANT, ENDORSE, GUARANTEE, OR ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY FOR THIRD-PARTY SERVICES, ADVERTISEMENTS, CONTENT, OR ANY OTHER PRODUCT OR SERVICES ADVERTISED OR OFFERED BY A THIRD PARTY ON OR THROUGH OUR SERVICES.

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY | TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, WE WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTIAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR ANY LOSS OF PROFIT, REVENUE, GOODWILL, BUSINESS, OPPORTUNITY OR DATA, WHETHER INCURRED DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, OR ANY OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES. IN NO EVENT SHALL OUR AGGREGATE LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS RELATING TO A SPECIFIC SERVICE EXCEED THE AMOUNT YOU PAID US FOR SUCH SPECIFIC SERVICE. THE LIMITATIONS OF THIS SECTION SHALL APPLY TO ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER BASED ON WARRANTY, CONTRACT, STATUTE, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE) OR OTHERWISE, AND WHETHER OR NOT WE HAVE BEEN INFORMED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF ANY SUCH DAMAGE, AND EVEN IF A REMEDY SET FORTH HEREIN IS FOUND TO HAVE FAILED OF ITS ESSENTIAL PURPOSE, AND EVEN TO ANY CLAIMS YOU MAY BRING AGAINST ANY OTHER PARTY TO THE EXTENT THAT WE WOULD BE REQUIRED TO INDEMNIFY THAT PARTY FOR SUCH CLAIM. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR PERSONAL INJURY, OR OF INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THIS LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT THESE LIMITATIONS ARE REASONABLE GIVEN THE BENEFITS OF THE SERVICES AND YOU WILL ACCEPT SUCH RISK AND/OR INSURE ACCORDINGLY

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2

I had the same pop up when I opened the app JD, UK version

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3

I just had a new TOS pop up last week. To add to what JD posted earlier this year, Samsung is, in a nutshell, asking to invade your digital/audio privacy at Google level proportions. Examples are; your browser search history, IMEI of your phone, conversations from your Alexa devices, IP addy’s…

Has anyone found a way to opt out? I thought about wiping a phone clean and using it as the sole device to manage ST.

4

Reading between the lines, this sounds like them covering their @$$ for Edge. Basically “We don’t guarantee your zigbee or z-wave device that works fine with Groovy will work with Edge.”

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5

Or even just from one version of the app to another, as has happened with a number of devices, such as some of the Fibaro ones.

ST puts an abstraction layer on top of the third-party standards it is certified for, and always has. That’s what a DTH is. But I agree, I think they are concerned that this issue is going to become more visible with Matter.

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