Instagram has responded to a consumer backlash over plans to update their terms & conditions of service, which reportedly allowed the sale of users photos for advertising, by saying that they are ‘listening’.
In a statement posted on his company blog Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom said: “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.”
This process will see the image sharing service modify certain parts of its terms to ‘eliminate confusion’ and make it ‘clear’ what may happen to photos. Systrom stated“…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.”
It was further stressed that Instagram will make no claim to ownership of images hosted by it and no changes have been made to privacy settings.