Not sure if this is the right place for it, but hopefully people that use Instagram will read it :)

 

Instagram may have ads, let companies use your photos for the ads

 

 

Instagram may be close to having advertisements, and those ads might use your photos.

 

The Facebook-owned social network announced upcoming changes to its terms of service, and the most notable one says Instagram can let companies pay to use your photos as well as your name and other information for ads that would be displayed within Instagram.

 

"To help us deliver interesting paid or sponsored content or promotions, you agree that a business or other entity may pay us to display your user name, 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," Instagram says in the terms of service.

 

Currently, Instagram doesn't display ads but Facebook does, so in all likelihood, advertisements will eventually come to Instagram too.

 

When asked, Instagram did not specifically say ads are coming, but the service did not reject the idea either.

 

"We are continuing to evaluate when, how, and in what form advertising inside Instagram plays a role in creating value for users and brands alike," Instagram told The Times in an email.

 

The upcoming changes are already causing an uproar.

 

Wired, for example, has written a guide to leaving Instagram and taking your photos with you while The Atlantic put up a post making the case for why it's more beneficial to users' privacy to pay for apps instead of using free services like Instagram.

 

Another change in the terms of service that is likely to be equally controversial involves Facebook.

 

Instagram in a blog post said it and Facebook will now share information with each other. The company said this will allow the two social networks to build better features, fight spam more effectively and discover system issues more quickly.

 

All of that sounds beneficial to the user, but the downside is both services will also know even more about you.

 

Instagram said the new terms of service will go into effect Jan. 16.

 

Link: LA Times

 

In all likelihood, Instagram may change their policy based on the online uproar, but in case you want to be more cautious, there is a guide to downloading your photos and deleting your account here.

Thank you, and we’re listening

 

Yesterday we introduced a new version of our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service that will take effect in thirty days. 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:

 

Advertising on Instagram 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.

 

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.

 

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. Our main goal is to avoid things likes advertising banners you see in other apps that would hurt the Instagram user experience. Instead, we want to create meaningful ways to help you discover new and interesting accounts and content while building a self-sustaining business at the same time.

 

Ownership Rights 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.

 

I always want you to feel comfortable sharing your photos on Instagram and we will always work hard to foster and respect our community and go out of our way to support its rights.

 

Privacy Settings Nothing has changed about the control you have over who can see your photos. If you set your photos to private, Instagram only shares your photos with the people you’ve approved to follow you. We hope that this simple control makes it easy for everyone to decide what level of privacy makes sense.

 

I am grateful to everyone for their feedback and that we have a community that cares so much. We need to be clear about changes we make — this is our responsibility to you. 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. Thank you for your help in making sure that Instagram continues to thrive and be a community that we’re all proud of. Please stay tuned for updates coming soon.

 

Sincerely,

 

Kevin Systrom co-founder, Instagram

 

link

Still got rid of mine anyway.

Damn it Jeeves we got caught.

Instagram denies having right to sell users' photos

 

Instagram was bought by Facebook in April 2012

 

Instagram denies having right to sell users' photos

 

Facebook's photo-sharing service Instagram has moved to deny that it has changed its privacy policy to give it the right to sell users' photos to advertisers without notification.

 

It said instead that users had incorrectly interpreted its revised terms of service, which it blamed on its "confusing" choice of language.

 

Instagram's clarification follows much user opposition to the believed change.

 

"To be clear: it is not our intention to sell your photos," it said.

 

Instagram chief executive Kevin Systrom said in a blog posting: "It is our mistake that this language is confusing.

 

"We are working on updated language in the terms to make sure this is clear."

 

Compulsory changes to Instagram's terms of service are due to come into effect on 16 January,

 

The originally proposed new wording that caused the controversy included: "You hereby grant to Instagram a non-exclusive, fully paid and royalty-free, transferable, sub-licensable, worldwide license to use the content that you post on or through the service."

 

The terms also stated that "a business or other entity may pay us to display your username, likeness, photos, and/or actions you take, in connection with paid or sponsored content or promotions, without any compensation to you."

 

Following Instagram's denial, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a US pressure group that campaigns for consumer rights on websites and in social media, told the BBC that "there appeared to be a little bit of a word game at play here".

 

"It clearly looked like Instagram was indeed grabbing the extra rights," added spokesman Parker Higgins.

 

"It is hard to evaluate the damage this may cause to the company at this early stage, but any social network risks losing the trust of its users. And social networks depend on users being willing to share information, on users seeing them in good terms."

 

Facebook bought Instagram for $1bn (£616m; 758m euros) in April of this year.

 

Instagram now has 100 million users.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20777616

https://twitter.com/LACHLANKANONIUK/status/281272122943361024

http://xkcd.com/

^I don't like that.

 

Or maybe I need to be more lighthearted, it's Christmas!