U Turn: Instagram won’t sell your photos after all

We reported yesterday how a change in photo sharing and retro-ifying service, Instagram, seemed to suggest that it had impunity to sell photos uploaded by users, as well as using their name, username, location and any other data it saw fit as part of marketing campaigns. Now though, in the wake of public outcry, it's promised not to.

Not only that, but the Terms of Service that caused such a furore have already been changed. Company co-founder Kevin Systrom said with regards to the ToS: “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.” He also went on to say that Instagram had no plans to sell user photos, suggesting by way of explanation for the initial ToS, that the company wanted to avoid traditional banner adverts.

So while it might have been some miscommunication, Instagram did still initially plan on using customer data for marketing purposes, whether it was to sell to others, or sell to the users themselves isn't quite clear, but either way, someone was being sold something, using the data of consumers.

Ending his blog post on the matter, Systrom clarified once again that: “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.”

KitGuru Says: So, those of you that jumped ship yesterday, do you plan to go back? If not, which service did you move to?

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