Instagram responds to outcry over the new Privacy Policy and ToS

Couple of days ago, popular social network Instagram announced their new Privacy Policy and Terms of Service, which would be effective starting January 16, 2013.

Unfortunately for them, the new documents resulted in a major outcry from the users because they made it sound like Instagram would be using your photos to sell them to advertisers, which resulted in a lot of people deleting their accounts. Now Instagram has published a blog post that talk about these changes to assure users that their intentions have been misinterpreted.

According to Kevin Systrom, co-founder of Instagram, Instagram has no intention of selling your images to advertisers. Although they do have a business model in mind, it does not involve selling user’s photos. What they will do instead is use your images to show you relevant business that are also on Instagram and if your friends are following that business as well.

Systrom also clarified that the users still own the copyrights for their content, which means Instagram cannot legally use them without your permission. The privacy settings also remain in place. You can still choose who gets to see your images and if you mark your account as private only people who you approve of will get to see them.

If that sounds like lip service, The Verge has a detailed post talking about the legalities of the situation and how Instagram literally cannot legally sell your photos.

So if you still haven’t deleted your Instagram account yet, you really don’t have to. Not for this reason, anyway.

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