A massive firestorm of Internet hate started up late on Monday, and all of it was directed at Instagram. It began when it was revealed that upcoming changes to the online photo service's privacy policy and terms of service indicated that Instagram would have the right to sell any photos uploaded on Instagram to advertisers without giving any compensation to the photo's owners.
Now, Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom has posted a message on the company's official blog to try to stop the bleeding. He now claims Instagram won't be selling your photos after all. Systrom did say, "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."
Systrom also said Instagram is planning to "experiment with innovative advertising" methods and the Terms of Service are being modified to reflect that. He added:
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.
Systrom also wrote that people still own the photos they upload on Instagram and that will not change in the future. Finally, he said that the service's privacy settings will not change and that photos people upload to their accounts will only be seen by the people approved to see them.
It appears like Instagram didn't think through these new changes to its Terms of Service. The big question is how many customers will believe Instagram's viewpoint and how many will leave anyway.
Source: Instagram blog | Image via Android Community
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