Instagram Possibly Selling Users Photos

See end of article for update.

Rumours and messages floating around that popular photo sharing site Instagram will be able to sell your photos, without compensation to you, are effectively true as a recent change in their terms and conditions proposed to happen in January next year have just been announced.

The change to the sites policy comes soon after Facebook acquisitioned Instagram with plans to monetise the photo website. The new changes mean that public photos you upload to the site after January 16th 2013 could be shared or even sold to third party advertisers.

So that lovely photo you took of that romantic sunset on your holiday in Corfu last year could end up being used in a TV ad or brochure for a Corfu hotel, and the only ones profiting from it are Instagram, or in other words, Facebook.

From the latest policy change on their website –

You agree that a business or other entity may pay us to display your username, 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.

But that’s only one concern. The move has potential privacy ramifications as well, as photos of you and your friends can end up being broadcast to millions in the form of advertisements and commercials, even friends who don’t even use Instagram but have been snapped in the photo of someone that does.

And the scariest thing of all – there is no way to opt out of the policy. Essentially every photo you share publically on the site after January 16th 2013 could be licensed and sold by Instagram, and there is nothing you can do about it. The only way to ensure your photos are safe is to delete your Instagram account before the January deadline.

That’s right – not even dropping a silly “copyright disclaimer” onto your Instagram account is going to help either.

Others have also speculated that if Instagram and Facebook do take to selling photos of people then they may run afoul of local privacy laws that often state to the effect that individuals in photos have to give explicit consent for their photos to be used for commercial purposes.

Instagram have stated that the ownership of photos does not change and that you still own the photos you share on the site, but when someone else is selling your photos and reaping the profit one has to wonder what real advantages ownership really provides.

Whether Instagram and Facebook will start selling their users photos remains to be seen. The point is that their latest policy literature allows them to do so. If you vehemently disagree with the proposal then Yahoo’s photo service Flickr are much more conservative over what they can do with your photos.

What do you think? Major privacy and ethical questions raised? Or much ado about nothing? Let us know and leave a comment.

UPDATE: Instagram have quickly released a statement following the outcry on the Internet claiming they have no intention of selling users photos and blamed the situation on a misunderstanding due to the “confusing language” in which their terms and conditions were written. They state they will be rewording their new terms.

What do you think? Genuine error or hasty retreat?