Instagram Privacy Policy Update.

The new privacy policy of Instagram that takes effect January 16, 2013 has caused quite an uproar. I am not a fan of any company selling photos that they do not own for their profit. There are many very simple ways to fix this situation and not lose a ton of users in the process.


Why not just use images posted via Instagram to advertise only Instagram and give full credit to the owner of the used image?

I do not see any real problem with that other than the fact that facebook/Instagram would not be profiting from its' users' work. They would need to find another way to monetize the service that does not involve ripping off the services users.

I will more than likely be removing all of y images from Instagram by the end o the year.

Here is the new policy below. Make sure that you read it and are comfortable with the changes before the changes go into effect.

Privacy Policy

Important Update

In September 2012, we announced that Instagram had been acquired by Facebook. We knew that by teaming up with Facebook, we could build a better Instagram for you. Since then, we've been collaborating with Facebook's team on ways to do just that. As part of our new collaboration, we've learned that by being able to share insights and information with each other, we can build better experiences for our users.

We're updating our Privacy Policy to highlight this new collaboration, but we want to make sure you understand that you still have control over who sees your photos. You still get to choose who can see your Instagram photos, and you still get to choose whether you post your photos on Facebook. So while we're looking forward to working closely with Facebook to build better experiences, we aren't changing the core features of the app that you've come to know and love.

Our new Privacy Policy is effective on January 16, 2013. To learn about how we treat information collected prior to January 16, 2013, please click here.

Privacy Policy

Effective date: January 16, 2013

Welcome to Instagram ("Instagram," "we," "us" or "our"). Instagram provides a fast, beautiful and fun way for you to share media through our content-sharing platform. Just snap a photo, choose a filter to transform the look and feel, add comments (if you like) and share!

Our Privacy Policy explains how we and some of the companies we work with collect, use, share and protect information in relation to our mobile services, web site, and any software provided on or in connection with Instagram services (collectively, the "Service"), and your choices about the collection and use of your information.

By using our Service you understand and agree that we are providing a platform for you to post content, including photos, comments and other materials ("User Content"), to the Service and to share User Content publicly. This means that other Users may search for, see, use, or share any of your User Content that you make publicly available through the Service, consistent with the terms and conditions of this Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use (which can be found at http://instagram.com/legal/terms).

Our Policy applies to all visitors, users, and others who access the Service ("Users").

1. INFORMATION WE COLLECT

We collect the following types of information.

Information you provide us directly:

Your username, password and e-mail address when you register for an Instagram account.
Profile information that you provide for your user profile (e.g., first and last name, picture, phone number). This information allows us to help you or others be "found" on Instagram.
User Content (e.g., photos, comments, and other materials) that you post to the Service.
Communications between you and Instagram. For example, we may send you Service-related emails (e.g., account verification, changes/updates to features of the Service, technical and security notices). Note that you may not opt out of Service-related e-mails.
Finding your friends on Instagram:

If you choose, you can use our "Find friends" feature to locate other people with Instagram accounts either through (i) your contacts list, (ii) third-party social media sites or (iii) through a search of names and usernames on Instagram.
If you choose to find your friends through (i) your device's contacts list, then Instagram will access your contacts list to determine whether or not someone associated with your contact is using Instagram.
If you choose to find your friends through a (ii) third-party social media site, then you will be prompted to set up a link to the third-party service and you understand that any information that such service may provide to us will be governed by this Privacy Policy.
If you choose to find your friends (iii) through a search of names or usernames on Instagram then simply type a name to search and we will perform a search on our Service.
Note about "Invite Friends" feature: If you choose to invite someone to the Service through our "Invite friends" feature, you may select a person directly from the contacts list on your device and send a text or email from your personal account. You understand and agree that you are responsible for any charges that apply to communications sent from your device, and because this invitation is coming directly from your personal account, Instagram does not have access to or control this communication.
Analytics information:

We use third-party analytics tools to help us measure traffic and usage trends for the Service. These tools collect information sent by your device or our Service, including the web pages you visit, add-ons, and other information that assists us in improving the Service. We collect and use this analytics information with analytics information from other Users so that it cannot reasonably be used to identify any particular individual User.
Cookies and similar technologies:

When you visit the Service, we may use cookies and similar technologies like pixels, web beacons, and local storage to collect information about how you use Instagram and provide features to you.
We may ask advertisers or other partners to serve ads or services to your devices, which may use cookies or similar technologies placed by us or the third party.
More information is available in our About Cookies section
Log file information:

Log file information is automatically reported by your browser each time you make a request to access (i.e., visit) a web page or app. It can also be provided when the content of the webpage or app is downloaded to your browser or device.
When you use our Service, our servers automatically record certain log file information, including your web request, Internet Protocol ("IP") address, browser type, referring / exit pages and URLs, number of clicks and how you interact with links on the Service, domain names, landing pages, pages viewed, and other such information. We may also collect similar information from emails sent to our Users which then help us track which emails are opened and which links are clicked by recipients. The information allows for more accurate reporting and improvement of the Service.
Device identifiers:

When you use a mobile device like a tablet or phone to access our Service, we may access, collect, monitor, store on your device, and/or remotely store one or more "device identifiers." Device identifiers are small data files or similar data structures stored on or associated with your mobile device, which uniquely identify your mobile device. A device identifier may be data stored in connection with the device hardware, data stored in connection with the device's operating system or other software, or data sent to the device by Instagram.
A device identifier may deliver information to us or to a third party partner about how you browse and use the Service and may help us or others provide reports or personalized content and ads. Some features of the Service may not function properly if use or availability of device identifiers is impaired or disabled.
Metadata:

Metadata is usually technical data that is associated with User Content. For example, Metadata can describe how, when and by whom a piece of User Content was collected and how that content is formatted.
Users can add or may have Metadata added to their User Content including a hashtag (e.g., to mark keywords when you post a photo), geotag (e.g., to mark your location to a photo), comments or other data. This makes your User Content more searchable by others and more interactive. If you geotag your photo or tag your photo using other's APIs then, your latitude and longitude will be stored with the photo and searchable (e.g., through a location or map feature) if your photo is made public by you in accordance with your privacy settings.

2. HOW WE USE YOUR INFORMATION

In addition to some of the specific uses of information we describe in this Privacy Policy, we may use information that we receive to:

help you efficiently access your information after you sign in
remember information so you will not have to re-enter it during your visit or the next time you visit the Service;
provide personalized content and information to you and others, which could include online ads or other forms of marketing
provide, improve, test, and monitor the effectiveness of our Service
develop and test new products and features
monitor metrics such as total number of visitors, traffic, and demographic patterns
diagnose or fix technology problems
automatically update the Instagram application on your device Instagram or other Users may run contests, special offers or other events or activities ("Events") on the Service. If you do not want to participate in an Event, do not use the particular Metadata (i.e. hashtag or geotag) associated with that Event.

3. SHARING OF YOUR INFORMATION

We will not rent or sell your information to third parties outside Instagram (or the group of companies of which Instagram is a part) without your consent, except as noted in this Policy.

Parties with whom we may share your information:

We may share User Content and your information (including but not limited to, information from cookies, log files, device identifiers, location data, and usage data) with businesses that are legally part of the same group of companies that Instagram is part of, or that become part of that group ("Affiliates"). Affiliates may use this information to help provide, understand, and improve the Service (including by providing analytics) and Affiliates' own services (including by providing you with better and more relevant experiences). But these Affiliates will honor the choices you make about who can see your photos.
We also may share your information as well as information from tools like cookies, log files, and device identifiers and location data, with third-party organizations that help us provide the Service to you ("Service Providers"). Our Service Providers will be given access to your information as is reasonably necessary to provide the Service under reasonable confidentiality terms.
We may also share certain information such as cookie data with third-party advertising partners. This information would allow third-party ad networks to, among other things, deliver targeted advertisements that they believe will be of most interest to you.
We may remove parts of data that can identify you and share anonymized data with other parties. We may also combine your information with other information in a way that it is no longer associated with you and share that aggregated information.
Parties with whom you may choose to share your User Content:

Any information or content that you voluntarily disclose for posting to the Service, such as User Content, becomes available to the public, as controlled by any applicable privacy settings that you set. To change your privacy settings on the Service, please change your profile setting. Once you have shared User Content or made it public, that User Content may be re-shared by others.
Subject to your profile and privacy settings, any User Content that you make public is searchable by other Users and subject to use under our Instagram API. The use of the Instagram API is subject to the API Terms of Use which incorporates the terms of this Privacy Policy.
If you remove information that you posted to the Service, copies may remain viewable in cached and archived pages of the Service, or if other Users or third parties using the Instagram API have copied or saved that information.
What happens in the event of a change of control:

If we sell or otherwise transfer part or the whole of Instagram or our assets to another organization (e.g., in the course of a transaction like a merger, acquisition, bankruptcy, dissolution, liquidation), your information such as name and email address, User Content and any other information collected through the Service may be among the items sold or transferred. You will continue to own your User Content. The buyer or transferee will have to honor the commitments we have made in this Privacy Policy.
Responding to legal requests and preventing harm:

We may access, preserve and share your information in response to a legal request (like a search warrant, court order or subpoena) if we have a good faith belief that the law requires us to do so. This may include responding to legal requests from jurisdictions outside of the United States where we have a good faith belief that the response is required by law in that jurisdiction, affects users in that jurisdiction, and is consistent with internationally recognized standards. We may also access, preserve and share information when we have a good faith belief it is necessary to: detect, prevent and address fraud and other illegal activity; to protect ourselves, you and others, including as part of investigations; and to prevent death or imminent bodily harm. Information we receive about you may be accessed, processed and retained for an extended period of time when it is the subject of a legal request or obligation, governmental investigation, or investigations concerning possible violations of our terms or policies, or otherwise to prevent harm.

4. HOW WE STORE YOUR INFORMATION

Storage and Processing:

Your information collected through the Service may be stored and processed in the United States or any other country in which Instagram, its Affiliates or Service Providers maintain facilities.
Instagram, its Affiliates, or Service Providers may transfer information that we collect about you, including personal information across borders and from your country or jurisdiction to other countries or jurisdictions around the world. If you are located in the European Union or other regions with laws governing data collection and use that may differ from U.S. law, please note that we may transfer information, including personal information, to a country and jurisdiction that does not have the same data protection laws as your jurisdiction.
By registering for and using the Service you consent to the transfer of information to the U.S. or to any other country in which Instagram, its Affiliates or Service Providers maintain facilities and the use and disclosure of information about you as described in this Privacy Policy.
We use commercially reasonable safeguards to help keep the information collected through the Service secure and take reasonable steps (such as requesting a unique password) to verify your identity before granting you access to your account. However, Instagram cannot ensure the security of any information you transmit to Instagram or guarantee that information on the Service may not be accessed, disclosed, altered, or destroyed.
Please do your part to help us. You are responsible for maintaining the secrecy of your unique password and account information, and for controlling access to emails between you and Instagram, at all times. Your privacy settings may also be affected by changes the social media services you connect to Instagram make to their services. We are not responsible for the functionality, privacy, or security measures of any other organization.

5. YOUR CHOICES ABOUT YOUR INFORMATION

Your account information and profile/privacy settings:

Update your account at any time by logging in and changing your profile settings.
Unsubscribe from email communications from us by clicking on the "unsubscribe link" provided in such communications. As noted above, you may not opt out of Service-related communications (e.g., account verification, purchase and billing confirmations and reminders, changes/updates to features of the Service, technical and security notices).
If you have any questions about reviewing or modifying your account information, please contact us directly at support@instagram.com.
How long we keep your User Content:

Following termination or deactivation of your account, Instagram, its Affiliates, or its Service Providers may retain information (including your profile information) and User Content for a commercially reasonable time for backup, archival, and/or audit purposes.
If you have any questions about termination or deactivation of your account, please contact us directly at support@instagram.com.

6. CHILDREN'S PRIVACY

Instagram does not knowingly collect or solicit any information from anyone under the age of 13 or knowingly allow such persons to register for the Service. The Service and its content are not directed at children under the age of 13. In the event that we learn that we have collected personal information from a child under age 13 without parental consent, we will delete that information as quickly as possible. If you believe that we might have any information from or about a child under 13, please contact us at support@instagram.com.

7. OTHER WEB SITES AND SERVICES

We are not responsible for the practices employed by any websites or services linked to or from our Service, including the information or content contained within them. Please remember that when you use a link to go from our Service to another website or service, our Privacy Policy does not apply to those third-party websites or services. Your browsing and interaction on any third-party website or service, including those that have a link on our website, are subject to that third party's own rules and policies. In addition, you agree that we are not responsible and do not have control over any third-parties that you authorize to access your User Content. If you are using a third-party website or service and you allow them to access your User Content you do so at your own risk.

8. HOW TO CONTACT US ABOUT A DECEASED USER

In the event of the death of an Instagram User, please send us an email to the following email address: support@instagram.com. We will usually conduct our communication via email; should we require any other information, we will contact you at the email address you have provided in your request.

9. HOW TO CONTACT US

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or the Service, please contact us at support@instagram.com.

10. CHANGES TO OUR PRIVACY POLICY

Instagram may modify or update this Privacy Policy from time to time, so please review it periodically. We may provide you additional forms of notice of modifications or updates as appropriate under the circumstances. Your continued use of Instagram or the Service after any modification to this Privacy Policy will constitute your acceptance of such modification.

And now here is an update via Instagrams blog:

Thank you, and we’re listening

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.

I’m writing this today to let you know we’re listening and to commit to you that we will be doing more to answer your questions, fix any mistakes, and eliminate the confusion. As we review your feedback and stories in the press, we’re going to modify specific parts of the terms to make it more clear what will happen with your photos.

Legal documents are easy to misinterpret. So I’d like to address specific concerns we’ve heard from everyone:

Advertising on Instagram From the start, Instagram was created to become a business. Advertising is one of many ways that Instagram can become a self-sustaining business, but not the only one. Our intention in updating the terms was to communicate that we’d like to experiment with innovative advertising that feels appropriate on Instagram. Instead 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.

To provide context, we envision a future where both users and brands alike may promote their photos & accounts to increase engagement and to build a more meaningful following. Let’s say a business wanted to promote their account to gain more followers and Instagram was able to feature them in some way. In order to help make a more relevant and useful promotion, it would be helpful to see which of the people you follow also follow this business. In this way, some of the data you produce — like the actions you take (eg, following the account) and your profile photo — might show up if you are following this business.

The language we proposed also raised question about whether your photos can be part of an advertisement. We do not have plans for anything like this and because of that we’re going to remove the language that raised the question. Our main goal is to avoid things like advertising banners you see in other apps that would hurt the Instagram user experience. Instead, we want to create meaningful ways to help you discover new and interesting accounts and content while building a self-sustaining business at the same time.

Ownership Rights 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.

I always want you to feel comfortable sharing your photos on Instagram and we will always work hard to foster and respect our community and go out of our way to support its rights.

Privacy Settings Nothing has changed about the control you have over who can see your photos. If you set your photos to private, Instagram only shares your photos with the people you’ve approved to follow you. We hope that this simple control makes it easy for everyone to decide what level of privacy makes sense.

I am grateful to everyone for their feedback and that we have a community that cares so much. We need to be clear about changes we make — this is our responsibility to you. One of the main reasons these documents don’t take effect immediately, but instead 30 days from now, is that we wanted to make sure you had an opportunity to raise any concerns. You’ve done that and are doing that, and that will help us provide the clarity you deserve. Thank you for your help in making sure that Instagram continues to thrive and be a community that we’re all proud of. Please stay tuned for updates coming soon.

Sincerely,

Kevin Systrom co-founder, Instagram