Norway consumer body stages live app terms reading Published duration 25 May 2016

image copyright Twitter/@Forbrukerradet image caption The 33 apps were chosen to represent the average number owned by Norwegians

Norwegians have spent more than 30 hours reading out terms and conditions from smartphone apps in a campaign by the country's consumer agency.

The average Norwegian has 33 apps, the Norwegian Consumer Council says, whose terms and conditions together run longer than the New Testament.

To prove the "absurd" length, the council got Norwegians to read each of them out in real time on their website.

The reading finished on Wednesday, clocking in at 31:49:11.

Some of the world's most popular apps were chosen, including Netflix, YouTube, Facebook, Skype, Instagram and Angry Birds.

"The current state of terms and conditions for digital services is bordering on the absurd," said Finn Myrstad from the Norwegian Consumer Council

"Their scope, length and complexity mean it is virtually impossible to make good and informed decisions."

The council is calling on the industry to write shorter, clearer terms and conditions and to adopt a common standard.

image copyright Twitter/@Forbrukerradet

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