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Why You Should Read Instagram’s Updated Privacy Policy and Terms of Use

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instagram privacy policy terms of use

Instagram unveiled an updated version of their Privacy Policy and Terms of Use late Monday evening, making significant changes to the way the photo-sharing app shares your information and licenses your photo content.

 

While we already had a hunch that advertising was headed to Instagram, the updated privacy policy and terms of use not only confirms our thoughts but also indicates that publicly-shared User Content can be used without compensation and that user information will be shared with Instagram’s parent company, Facebook. These important changes can be found under the “Sharing of your Information” section. This section says,

 

We may share User Content and your information (including but not limited to, information from cookies, log files, device identifiers, location data, and usage data) with businesses that are legally part of the same group of companies that Instagram is part of, or that become part of that group (“Affiliates”). Affiliates may use this information to help provide, understand, and improve the Service (including by providing analytics) and Affiliates’ own services (including by providing you with better and more relevant experiences). But these Affiliates will honor the choices you make about who can see your photos…

Subject to your profile and privacy settings, any User Content that you make public is searchable by other Users and subject to use under our Instagram API. The use of the Instagram API is subject to the API Terms of Use which incorporates the terms of this Privacy Policy.

 

Why did Instagram’s Privacy Policy need to be changed? The platform states,

We knew that by teaming up with Facebook, we could build a better Instagram for you. Since then, we’ve been collaborating with Facebook’s team on ways to do just that. As part of our new collaboration, we’ve learned that by being able to share insights and information with each other, we can build better experiences for our users.

 

Amidst all this legal jargon, what can you, the fashion blogger, expect? How will this change your Instagram usage?

 

First of all, get ready for ads. We knew they were coming and this privacy policy confirms that. These ads will be specifically targeted to each user and while we aren’t sure how they will fit in the platform’s interface, we anticipate that they will be appearing somewhere in our feed or account.

 

Second and more important, by uploading your photos to Instagram, you are allowing your uploaded photos to be used without compensation. Imagine your Instagram of you and your friends on a billboard. Scary, right? Sadly, this can happen. The new Terms of Use state, “You agree that a business or other entity may pay us to display your username, likeness, photos (along with any associated metadata), and/or actions you take, in connection with paid or sponsored content or promotions, without any compensation to you.”  The CNET writes,

Facebook claims the perpetual right to license all public Instagram photos to companies or any other organization, including for advertising purposes, which would effectively transform the Web site into the world’s largest stock photo agency.

 

Overall, you can now predict that Facebook is aiming to become a bigger network with a wider reach, infiltrating more and more aspects of your life. More information about you and your behavior on these Facebook-owned platforms will be shared amongst advertising partners and investors. The Next Web says,

Now that this bridge is starting to be built from the other side, there is clear evidence now, perhaps more than ever before, that Facebook is moving towards a single cohesive network similar to Google.

 

Be sure to read through the updated Privacy Policy and Terms of Use over at Instagram. These changes don’t come into effect until January 16, 2013 so you have time to decide how you feel about this new change and your content. If you don’t like these changes, you must delete your account by January 16th. By keeping your account, you are giving consent to these changes. What do you think about Instagram’s new privacy policy? Do you want to delete your account? Or be more selective about the content you share on the photo-sharing app?

 

UPDATE: Instagram’s co-founder Kevin Systrom released a statement last night in response to the buzz around their updated Privacy Policy. He says,

 

Since making these changes, we’ve heard loud and clear that many users are confused and upset about what the changes mean… From the start, Instagram was created to become a business. Advertising is one of many ways that Instagram can become a self-sustaining business, but not the only one. Our intention in updating the terms was to communicate that we’d like to experiment with innovative advertising that feels appropriate on Instagram. Instead it was interpreted by many that we were going to sell your photos to others without any compensation. This is not true and it is our mistake that this language is confusing. To be clear: it is not our intention to sell your photos. We are working on updated language in the terms to make sure this is clear… Instagram users own their content and Instagram does not claim any ownership rights over your photos. Nothing about this has changed. We respect that there are creative artists and hobbyists alike that pour their heart into creating beautiful photos, and we respect that your photos are your photos. Period.

 

He ended his blog post by assuring users that Instagram will continue to work to preserve its community.

One of the main reasons these documents don’t take effect immediately, but instead 30 days from now, is that we wanted to make sure you had an opportunity to raise any concerns. You’ve done that and are doing that, and that will help us provide the clarity you deserve.

 
Read the entire statement over at Instagram
 
 
Photo credit: @AstroWifey

 


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