Instagram, the popular photo-sharing app, has said that it will remove the language from its legal terms and conditions which were interpreted as letting the service sell users photos or use them in advertising.
In a blog post, Kevin Systrom, co-founder, Instagram said, “These two documents help communicate as clearly as possible our relationship with the users of Instagram so you understand how your data will be used, and the rules that govern the thriving and active Instagram community. Since making these changes, we’ve heard loud and clear that many users are confused and upset about what the changes mean.
I’m writing this today to let you know we’re listening and to commit to you that we will be doing more to answer your questions, fix any mistakes, and eliminate the confusion. As we review your feedback and stories in the press, we’re going to modify specific parts of the terms to make it more clear what will happen with your photos.
Legal documents are easy to misinterpret. So I’d like to address specific concerns we’ve heard from everyone”
The blog post goes on to describe the rules and regulations for advertising on Instagram as well as ownership rights and privacy settings.
So can Instagram sell users photos? Well, it doesn’t intend to. The blog post explains that Instagram wanted to experiment with innovative advertising. It was interpreted by many that the service would sell users photos to others without any compensation. Instagram has explained the meaning of the new terms and conditions in the following way.
“To provide context, we envision a future where both users and brands alike may promote their photos & accounts to increase engagement and to build a more meaningful following. Let’s say a business wanted to promote their account to gain more followers and Instagram was able to feature them in some way. In order to help make a more relevant and useful promotion, it would be helpful to see which of the people you follow also follow this business. In this way, some of the data you produce — like the actions you take (eg, following the account) and your profile photo — might show up if you are following this business”.
If you thought you’d lose the ownership right of some of your creations, you need not worry. Instagram says that users own their content and Instagram does not claim any ownership rights over users creations.
Until this matter is sorted in black and white; some users of the service have decided to suspend their activities. National Geographic has announced that that it will stop posting pictures to Instagram. The news came after the controversy regarding the new terms and conditions. An image posted by National Geographic on Instagram stated, “@NatGeo is suspending new posts to Instagram. We are very concerned with the direction of the proposed new terms of service and if they remain as presented we may close our account.”
Considering that National Geographic on Instagram has 640,000 followers, it is quite a big deal and a backlash for the photo sharing service.
The change in terms and conditions comes three months after Facebook acquired Instagram. The new terms and conditions take effect from next month, 16th Jan 2013. Facebook hasn’t had the cleanest reputation when it comes to privacy settings and has seen some backlash in the past. The Instagram photo sharing service has over 100 million users and we’re pretty sure the service will do everything in its power to retain them. Those interested can read the Instagram’s terms of use here.
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Facebook to launch photo-sharing app to compete with Snapchat: Report
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