Find out your supplier changed their terms before your customers do
Every vendor reserves the right to change their terms, and most satisfy that obligation by updating a page. The notice you were promised is frequently a revised date at the top of a document nobody reads.
From $5 a month · No check quotas · Set up in under a minute
How do you monitor changes to terms and policies?
Watch the supplier's published terms, privacy policy, DPA and subprocessor list for text changes. When a clause is reworded you get a word-level diff showing exactly which sentences moved, plus a dated image. It closes the gap between a vendor updating a page and you discovering it during an audit.
Supplier terms are a live document pretending to be a static one. Liability caps move, data locations change, subprocessors are added, and the mechanism for telling you is usually a "last updated" line you would have to visit the page to see.
For anyone with data protection obligations this matters concretely. If your processor adds a subprocessor in another jurisdiction, your own compliance position changed the moment they published it — not when you found out.
This guide covers the four documents worth watching per supplier, how to catch a change buried in a long legal page, and what to keep so you can show when you knew.
Four documents per supplier
Per critical supplier. A dozen suppliers is comfortably inside a $5 plan.
The subprocessor list
The one that changes most and matters most. New subprocessors mean new jurisdictions, new data flows and often a new assessment on your side. Many vendors commit to publishing changes here as their only notice.
The data processing agreement
Where the substantive obligations live. Changes are less frequent but far more consequential, and they are rarely announced.
The privacy policy
Data uses, retention periods and third-party sharing. Also the page most likely to be quietly broadened.
The terms of service
Liability caps, indemnities, termination rights and the clause reserving the right to change the terms in the first place.
Start with the subprocessor lists of your three most critical processors. That is three watches and covers the change most likely to create an obligation for you.
Set up a terms-and-policy watch, step by step
Shown on Apple's Media Services terms — a long legal document with a single "Last Updated" line that tells you when anything moved.
1. Paste the policy URL
Open Page watches → New watch and paste the address of the terms, privacy policy or data processing agreement. For a legal page we usually recognise the document type and offer a ready-made setup.
2. Watch the "Last updated" line — or the whole document
On Apple's terms, the picker offers A new version or release is published on the "Last Updated" line: five words that change only when the document does. That is the quietest possible watch. If you need to see which clause changed, watch the whole document instead.
The "Last Updated" line selected. The banner at the top is the product recognising a terms page.
3. Match the sensitivity to what you selected
For the "Last Updated" line, choose Any change: a new date changes one word, and the default Real changes setting waits for at least five. For a whole-document watch, keep Real changes so a copyright year or a cookie banner does not count as a revision. The Policy or terms page banner's Set it up for me button is the quickest way to start from sensible defaults.
4. Send it to legal, not to everyone
Policy changes need a reader, not an audience. Route the alert to the person who owns supplier contracts and name the watch after the supplier and document, for example "Apple — Media Services terms".
5. Read the clause that changed
For a whole-document watch, the change view shows the old and new wording line by line, so a two-word edit in a forty-page agreement is visible without re-reading it.
Added lines are highlighted in green and removed lines in red.
Catching a clause change in a long document
Legal pages are long, and a meaningful change is often one sentence.
Watch the document body, below the date stamp
Most policies carry a "last updated" line. Include it and you are alerted on every review; select below it and you are alerted only when the text moves.
Do not set a change threshold too high
This is the opposite of a marketing page. A change of a few words — "may" to "will", a new named subprocessor — can be the entire point. Keep the threshold low or off for legal documents.
Read the diff, not the summary
Every recorded change shows the exact words added and removed. On a legal page that precision is the product; a paraphrase would be worse than useless.
Keep the record
The last thirty versions of each page are retained with dated images. When someone asks when a clause changed, that is the answer.
The limits
Two of these are common enough to check before you subscribe.
PDF terms are not compared
Plenty of vendors publish their DPA as a PDF. We watch the page linking to it, so a replaced or renamed document shows as a change, but the text inside the PDF is not diffed.
Terms behind a login or a portal
Enterprise agreements in a customer portal cannot be reached by a hosted tool. Public terms pages generally can.
It does not assess the change
You get the words. Whether the new clause is acceptable is a judgement for you or your counsel.
It is not a vendor management system
No questionnaires, no risk scoring, no register. It watches pages and tells you when they changed.
How to monitor a supplier's terms and policies
Set up alerts for changes to terms, privacy policies, DPAs and subprocessor lists.
Start with the subprocessor list
It changes most often and is most likely to create an obligation on your side.
Select the document body
Click below the "last updated" stamp so a review cycle does not alert you.
Keep the threshold low
On legal text a few changed words can be the whole point, so do not filter small changes out.
Check daily
Policies do not change hourly. Daily is timely enough and keeps the alerts meaningful.
Route to whoever owns the vendor
Per-watch alerting means each supplier reaches its own owner rather than a shared inbox.
Repeat for the DPA, privacy policy and terms
Four watches per critical supplier; a dozen suppliers fits comfortably inside a $5 plan.
Typically about 4 minutes from start to finish.
What it costs
Uptime monitors, watched pages and heartbeats each get their own allowance, so adding a page watch never costs you a monitor. SSL and domain checks ride along with the monitor they belong to and use nothing extra.
| Plan | Monitors | Watched pages | Heartbeats | Fastest interval | Alert channels | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | 25 | 25 | 25 | Every 5 minutes | Email + webhook & chat | $5/mo |
| Basic | 10 | 10 | 10 | Every 10 minutes | Email + webhook & chat | $8/mo |
| Growth | 50 | 50 | 50 | Every 5 minutes | Email + webhook & chat | $19/mo |
| Pro | 100 | 100 | 100 | Every 60 seconds | Email + webhook & chat | $34/mo |
Annual billing is cheaper on every paid tier. The pricing page is the authoritative list.
What an alert actually looks like
Every recorded change is compared word by word and kept with a before-and-after image. This is the real output, shown with worked example data.
Price fell from $49 to $39, and an annual discount was added.
The item is available again and the basket button returned.
A new subprocessor was added in another jurisdiction.
Where we can reach you
The free plan sends to one email address. Every paid plan adds the chat and webhook channels below, with 2 to 10 destinations depending on the plan. However many alerts you receive, the price does not change — nothing here is metered or charged per alert.
There are no voice calls and no SMS. If a phone call at 3am is a hard requirement, say so before you subscribe — we would rather tell you now than refund you later.
Terms and policy monitoring questions
How do I know when a supplier changes their terms?
Watch the published page. When the wording changes you get a word-level diff showing which sentences were added, removed or reworded, plus a dated image. It does not depend on the vendor remembering to email you.
Why monitor subprocessor lists specifically?
Because a new subprocessor can change your own compliance position the moment it is published — new jurisdiction, new data flow, often a new assessment. Many vendors treat updating that page as sufficient notice.
Can it monitor a DPA published as a PDF?
Not its contents. We watch the page that links to it, so a replaced or renamed document appears as a change, but the text inside the PDF is not compared. This is a real limitation and worth checking against how your suppliers publish.
How often should I check a policy page?
Daily. Policies do not change hourly, and a daily check keeps the alerts meaningful rather than routine.
Should I set a change threshold?
Keep it low or off for legal documents. Unlike a marketing page, a change of a few words — a "may" becoming a "will", one new named subprocessor — can be the most important thing that happened all quarter.
Can I show when a clause changed?
Yes, within the retained history. Each recorded change is timestamped with a full-page image and a word-level diff, and the last thirty versions of each page are kept.
How many suppliers can I cover?
Four documents per supplier means the $5 plan's 25 watched pages covers about six critical suppliers. Growth covers around twelve, Pro around twenty-five.
Does it tell me whether the new terms are acceptable?
No. It tells you precisely what changed. Whether that is acceptable is a judgement for you or your counsel, and we would rather show you the words than paraphrase a clause you are accountable for.
Related monitoring guides
- Regulatory change monitoringFor regulators rather than suppliers
- How change detection worksThe mechanics underneath
- Competitor website monitoringThe same technique, different target
Last updated August 4, 2026 · Written by Amit Gupta, founder of MonitoringDaddy
Watch your processors' subprocessor lists.
Free plan covers one. $5/mo covers 25 pages — about six suppliers, fully documented.