Comment by dotnet00
2 years ago
Silently doesn't have to literally mean without sound. When referring to written mediums it just means without notice. It implies that they hoped for it to go unnoticed because that's exactly it, if they weren't concerned about being secretive they'd take the time to announce it somewhere.
We have a word for this: metaphor! It is building the imagery of a thief silently sneaking into the GitHub offices, and stealing the terms of service.