30 December 2012

New terms of service could spell end of Instagram

OUTRAGED photography fans have taken to Twitter to label Instagram's controversial new terms of service the photo app's end. 
 
Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, released its new conditions overnight which states it has the right to use people's photos in advertisements without the photographer's consent and without payment.

Even people who do not use Instagram could find themselves in an ad for the popular social media tool, if a friend snaps a picture of them and shares it.

''Some or all of the service may be supported by advertising revenue,'' the new conditions say.
''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.''

Instagram's right to use images of its users in advertisers extends to teenagers, with the new terms saying a guardian or parent has agreed to the condition in letting a teenager sign up for the account.
Privacy groups have already protested the terms, particular that there is no way to opt out without deleting your Instagram account.

In its blog, Instagram says the aim of the new conditions is to make it easier for Instagram to work with Facebook.

''This means we can do things like fight spam more effectively, detect system and reliability problems more quickly, and build better features for everyone by understanding how Instagram is used,'' it says.

heraldsun.com.au 18 Dec 2012

Although this post is being posted quite some time after the initial notification, and since then Instagram apparently back tracked its policy, it is rather a global trend to misuse and abuse user information.

It is a global policy to have information accessible to government authorities without any boundaries. This is achieved on many fronts.

Companies are set up with the support or even by government involvement to obtain user information and pass it on to wherever the information is supposed to flow to.

If individuals carry out such breaches of privacy as some companies do, then incarceration would be carried out, as in the example of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.

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