Popular photo sharing app Instagram’s new privacy policy and terms of service take effect this week, Saturday, January 19, the company announced in an email to users, along with the assurance that users still “own” their own photos and have control over their privacy settings. As the email sent to users read:
Hello,
Our community has grown by many millions of people since we wrote our original Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. As we announced in December, we have updated our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. These policies also now take into account the feedback we received from the Instagram Community. We’re emailing you to remind you that, as we announced last month, these updated policies will be in effect as of January 19th, 2013.
You can read our blog post that highlights some of the key updates. And remember, these updates don’t change the fact that you own your photos that you post on Instagram, and our privacy controls work just as they did before.
Thank you,
The Instagram Team
The changes caused some controversy among users when Instagram first unveiled them in December 2012. Some users threatened to quit the service entirely, specifically in response to one clause that seemed to allow Instagram the ability to repurpose users’ photos, comments and other content in and for advertising. After several days of protest, Instagram removed that clause, but still vowed to go ahead with other changes that will allow it and parent company Facebook new ways to advertise and monetize user content on the service. Facebook announced it was acquiring Instagram in April 2012 at a deal then valued at $1 billion in cash and stock.
