The strange test that proved that with a bottle of wine few read what they sign online

An offer of a free bottle of wine has finally been claimed after being 'hidden' for three months in the privacy policy of the website of a British think tank dedicated to tax issues.

Tax Policy Associates added a clause with the offer in February as a “trial” to see if anyone would actually read all the terms.

The nonprofit's president, Dan Needle, shared the story in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter), explaining that the first person to discover the item will receive a “bottle of fine wine.”

Needle – a tax lawyer who has worked on high-profile tax cases, including that of former chancellor Nadhim Zahawi – told the BBC that adding the wine display was his idea.

The think tank recently changed the fine print of its privacy policy on its website after the provision was discovered.

“We know no one is reading this, because we added in February that we would be sending a bottle of good wine to the first person who contacted us, and we didn't get a response until May,” Joomla now says in her privacy policy.

Needle claims this was her “childish protest.”

“Every company needs to have a privacy policy, and no one reads it.”

“Every little coffee shop needs to have a privacy policy on their website, and that's crazy. It's a waste of money.”

Any company that stores personal data, including small businesses and charities, must have a privacy policy, according to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the body responsible for ensuring the privacy of information relating to individuals in the UK.

It is a basic requirement of the country's 2018 General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Needle said the person who found the text on the site “was kind of confused” because he was trying to write his own policy and was looking for examples. The person then emailed the organization saying they thought they lost the bottle of wine, but it was their lucky day.

The lawyer said he did something similar when his organization was founded more than two years ago. At the time, it took four months for anyone to find out.

“We did it again to see if people were paying more attention,” he added.

But, after all, what was the “fine wine” the website was referring to? The person who found the condition received a bottle of Château de Sales 2013/14 Pomerol as a reward.

According to Neidle, her style was inspired by the method used by the band Van Halen, who requested a jar of M&Ms without brown sprinkles as part of their tour requirements.

But this was not frivolity or extravagance – the musicians included this in the contract as a test to ensure that the producers were paying attention to their requests, which often included complex technical instructions.

“It was a great strategy to see if people were paying attention,” Needle says.