There was an uproar this week when Instagram announced new terms and conditions that seemed to give itself the ability to sell users’ photographs and use their user profiles and likenesses.
Would the company be grabbing our pictures and using them against ads or — even worse — FOR ads, without compensating us or even alerting us to it? Was this just blanket legalese that seemed to cover every eventuality but left users feeling uneasy?
Whatever the meaning, it prompted many Instagram users to start thinking about using other photo sharing apps and platforms – from Twitter (which now allows you to use filters and basic cropping) and Flickr, to apps like Hipstamatic and Snapseed, which shares your pics on Google+.
Now the company has clarified, with this statement from Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom. In it he writes:
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.
He goes on to say:
The language we proposed also raised question about whether your photos can be part of an advertisement. We do not have plans for anything like this and because of that we’re going to remove the language that raised the question.
On one hand, Yay! It appears that the company is removing some language that gave it sweeping powers over our content. On the other hand, the statement stresses that Instagram the business is always looking to try innovative models. Increasingly this means using content, and Facebook — Instagram’s parent company — has a history of kinda looking at the stuff we share on its platforms as its own.
What’s more, its usual tactics seem to be:
- announce big scary change that affects all users with no way to opt out
- after uproar, making a statement that indicates you may in some small way have gotten it wrong
- do it anyway
This CNET article sums it up aptly: Amateur hour at Instagram-parent Facebook.
Personally, we’ve been using Instagram for a while. On Friday I went on my first Instagram community walk, taking pictures in Spitalfields with a bunch of other Instagrammers. I love it and don’t want to have to start over with a different app.
But content and control of it is going to be a battleground and a vital issue for everyone who shares online. If we don’t like what we see, we must be prepared to take our filters and leave.
About Jennifer Howze
Jennifer Howze is the Creative Director and co-founder of BritMums. She blogs about family travel at Jenography.net, tweets at @JHowze and Instagrams at @JHowze. Previously, she wrote the Alpha Mummy blog at The Times and as a journalist has contributed to The Times, The Guardian, The Independent, The Wall Street Journal, Travel & Leisure, Budget Travel, CNN.com, Allure, SELF and Premiere, among others. She won The Maggie Award from the Planned Parenthood Federation of America for a health article in Seventeen magazine.