I was not surprised to hear Instagram, the photo sharing site acquired by Facebook, was changing its privacy policy.
But I was stunned by the change. In addition to the expected changes to allow Facebook advertisers to be able access your personal data, they are also reserving the right to use your username, photos and other data in advertisements.
You agree to all of this when you sign up for the service. And there doesn't appear to be an opt-out.
According to a CNBC article, Instagram makes it clear if you use the service they own your data. Key quote:
Instagram doesn't give its users much choice if they don't like the new terms. In fact, users who don't want their images treated as stock photos only have one option, they must quit Instagram.
"If you do not agree to be bound by all of these Terms of Use, do not access or use the Service," the company said.
In our opinion, this is abusive.
Over the course of the day there were lots of protests. And Instagram did relent and issued a statement saying they wouldn't use customer pictures in ads. But it's still pretty clear they believe they own their customers data.
Contrast this with Intuit (an Emergent Research client). Intuit's policy is they don't own their customer's data - their customers do. And they allow their customers individual control over how their data can be used.
One of the key findings of our research on big data is responsible data stewardship by corporations will be required. Firms that abuse the rights of their customers, or misuse their data will find themselves being punished.
I hope Instagram and Facebook learned from this. But I kinda doubt it.
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