(Image credit: simpliblog.org)
Despite amending its much-criticized Terms of Service and Privacy Policy days after its original posting, Instagram are now in some hot water over the issue, after an Instagram user from California filed a class action lawsuit against the company. In response, the Facebook-owned company told Reuters that the complaint is “without merit” and pledged to “fight it vigorously”.
Last week, Instagram announced that it will be changing its term of service and privacy policy that angered many of its users, as it will allow the company full rights to use or even sell the photos uploaded by users for commercial purposes, without the prior agreement nor any royalty payments to the user. It sparked outrage among users, many of whom quit the massively popular service as a sign of protest. Less than 24 hours later, Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom reassured users that the company will not sell users’ photos, nor do they have plans to use users’ photos as part of its advertisements. However, the updated ToS kept language which continue to give the company legal rights to “not always identify paid services, sponsored content, or commercial communications as such.”
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The lawsuit, filed by San Diego-based law firm Finkelstein & Krinsk, also highlights that even if users deleted their accounts, the photos that have already been uploaded on their profiles will automatically be legally owned by Instagram. According to the lawsuit, “In short, Instagram declares that ‘possession is nine-tenths of the law and if you don’t like it, you can’t stop us.’”
(Source: TechCrunch)
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