Called TOSBack, the EFF site launched recently and is already tracking 44 sites.

"Terms of service form the foundation of your relationship with social networking sites, online businesses, and other Internet communities, but most people become aware of these terms only when there's a problem," said EFF Activism and Technology Manager Tim Jones, in a press release. "We created TOSBack to help consumers monitor terms of service for the websites they use everyday, and show how the terms change over time."

Most Internet users read these agreements about as often than they peruse car owner's manuals, which is to say only when it smells like something is burning.

Yet ToS changes happen all the time, those changes are often important, and they can cause a stink, as Facebook and its faithful learned recently when the company proposed alterations to its terms that were perceived as Facebook helping itself to the pictures and writings of members. Much caterwauling and backpedaling ensued before order was restored.

The EFF project may actually accelerate such flare-ups in the future, which would be a good thing.