Instagram 'Benefitting' From Deleted Accounts' Photos

You may remember the general dismay among privacy advocates and Instagram users last December when an update to the photo-app’s terms of use was widely interpreted as a grab for rights. In the days following the change, the company clarified that they had never intended to use individuals’ photos without their permission, and amended the conditions once more – but many were wary, with almost 50% of Instagram users dropping the service in a single month. The number of daily users has since begun to grow again.

The suit alleges, while the company still does – and there is no way to either opt-out of the new terms or to truly delete the content.

Now, a proposed class action lawsuit is seeking approval in California after a federal court ruled that it had no jurisdiction in the matter. Plaintiff Lucy Rodriguez is bringing the lawsuit on behalf of Instagram users who were active before the change to the terms of service, and had entrusted their photographs to the company. The proposed suit alleges that users may now face commercial exploitation and sublicensing of their work. In particular, Rodriguez alleges that the company retains users’ photos even after an account is deleted, and does not separate content uploaded prior to the new terms from content uploaded after the new terms. Users who delete their account no longer have access to photos they have taken, the suit alleges, while the company still does – and there is no way to either opt-out of the new terms or to truly delete the content.

According to the complaint, filed three days after a California federal judge denied that federal courts had jurisdiction, Instagram’s updated terms may essentially grant the company transferable and sublicensable worldwide rights to users’ content. Instagram has also been in negotiation with advertisers and third parties to sublicense the proposed class action memberships’ property, Rodriguez asserts. She is seeking an order declaring the suit be maintained as a class action, an order temporarily stopping Instagram from enforcing the new terms, related relief, and attorneys’ fees.

The new Instagram terms went into effect on January 19, 2013.