Inspiration
The inspiration for our project stemmed from the fact that people almost never read the terms of services for the websites that they use every day. When they do, the results are often shocking. For example, when one of our group members read the terms and condition of apple's dictation page they were shocked at how much data they were unknowingly giving away.
What it does
Our app strives to fix this problem by making it easy to understand the terms you are agreeing to by giving you a summary of the terms' privacy violations and how they can affect you. The app then provides you with an overall score to better inform you about your decision.
How we built it
The website is run in python-flask for a back-end, the front-end is written in HTML5, CSS3, and JS. The backend python script a link to terms of service page URL. It then reads and analyzes the page utilizing a complex algorithm with the assistance of comprehensive keyword lists. This highlights the various privacy violations found throughout the terms and then presents them to the user on the front end.
Challenges we ran into
The main challenge we ran into was creating an algorithm to read and analyze the terms of service texts. The algorithm had to not only identify keywords but work well in context by identifying significant nearby words that would affect the meaning.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
In addition to our algorithm, we are proud of our comprehensive keyword lists that manage to consistently and accurately identify privacy violations in a wide variety of circumstances. Additionally, we managed to create an easy to use and functional chrome extension to expedite the process of using our project.
What we learned
We learned how to make a chrome extension, as it was a completely new experience for all of us. We also improved our skills in writing algorithms in python and web development.
What's next for ToScan
To increase our project accuracy even further, we would like to implement machine learning down the road. We would have liked to use machine learning today, however, it wasn't possible within the time constraints. We would also like to publish our extension to the chrome store but this takes over two days. We look forward to improving our project in the future.
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