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Famous actors and musicians, the head of the US Department of Energy and regular users of Instagram broadcast a memo about a hoax claiming that the company will soon be allowed to post photos and deleted messages and to use these messages against them in court.
The claims are false and the claims do not make much sense, but that did not prevent it from spreading from big names concerned about the implications. Personalities such as Usher, Judd Apatow and Julia Roberts posted the note in their feed, as did Rick Perry, the current US Energy Secretary and former Texas Governor. The note and similar notes have been circulating since 2012 and it is only their most recent resurgence.
The copy-pasted note has spread over the past day, warning us of the supposed changes in Instagram's privacy policy that will give Instagram the power to "use your photos" in different ways without consent.
The note contains a so-called rejection message that purports to prohibit Instagram from using a person's information or "divulging, copying, distributing or taking" any action against it based on what is displayed on his profile. He says their profiles contain "private and confidential information".
It's a total joke. "There is no truth in this article," said Stephanie Otway, spokesperson for Facebook, owner of Instagram, The edge.
To put it simply: this message brings nothing and has no meaning. Posting on Instagram does not affect how Instagram handles your content.
Instagram policies give it some basic uses for your photos and messages because it requires permission to view them to other users. To clarify, the company's terms of service include a bold line that reads: "We do not claim ownership of your content, but you grant us a license to use". It also states that you may terminate this license at any time "by deleting your content or your account."
Instagram can also share data and content with law enforcement agencies, in response to warrants, court rulings or when it is deemed necessary to prevent a crime. This is true of all Internet services. These companies comply with the legal demands of law enforcement and forward all information available to them, including account details and publications.
The legal citation in the hoax also does not make sense: the UCC code is the Uniform Code of Commerce, which forms the basis of state-level contract law and does not apply generally not to questions of copyright. UCC 1-308-11308. The closest thing, UCC 1-308, is in the definitions section and has no penalty. This is mainly to reserve the right to sue even if you accept defective goods. The Rome Statute established the International Criminal Court in 1998 and, well, the ICC does not really care about your Instagram.
Using free services such as Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat and Twitter means accepting their terms of use and their privacy policy. It also means that they must be able to access your account information if necessary to facilitate forensic investigations. The only option to avoid this is to completely leave the services. That said, the way this hoax has spread has probably shown that people are worried about the control they actually have over their own data.
The sad reality is that you do not control everything you share online, as long as you use the service of someone else.
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