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<\/p>\nBy: Darden Copeland<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
When you tap \u201cpost\u201d on Instagram, you are \u201ccapturing and sharing the worlds moments,\u201d[1]<\/a> as their slogan cleverly states, but with whom are you sharing these moments? It may seem like you\u2019re merely sharing your photographs that you snapped while on vacation, for example, with those on your friends list, also known as your \u201cfollowers,\u201d but it doesn\u2019t stop there.\u00a0 With over one billion users worldwide, Instagram is one of the most popular forms of social media; is this massive pool of users the extent of who can see what you\u2019ve posted?\u00a0 Unfortunately, no.\u00a0 Several seemingly innocuous provisions of Instagram\u2019s Terms of Use allow your\u00a0<\/em>photographs to be shared with virtually anyone in the world.[2]<\/a><\/p>\n The governing document for using Instagram is its Terms of Use.\u00a0 As somewhat of a \u201cgatekeeper,\u201d the Terms of Use must be accepted in order to use the app, so Instagram\u2019s one billion daily users have already assented to its terms.\u00a0 Unsurprisingly, 97% of Instagram\u2019s target market was found to click \u201cagree\u201d to terms of use agreements before reading a single word[3]<\/a>\u2014so what you\u2019re about to read may (and probably will) be news to you.<\/p>\n Though its terms provide that Instagram does not claim ownership of your posted photos, it claims the next best thing.\u00a0 By posting on Instagram, you, \u201cgrant to Instagram a non-exclusive, fully paid and royalty-free, transferrable, sub-licensable, worldwide license to host, use, distribute, modify, run, copy, publicly perform or display, translate, and create derivative works of your content.\u201d[4]<\/a>\u00a0 That\u2019s one hefty license.\u00a0 In essence, with the tap of your thumb, you give Instagram the right to use, disseminate, and even modify any of your posted photos for free and for any reason.[5]<\/a>\u00a0Does this mean that you could be strolling along Times Square and see a large, blown-up picture of yourself that you once posted as a neat portrait for your followers to see\u2014but this time with a massive mustache for the people of New York City to see?\u00a0 Yep, it does.\u00a0Scary, right?<\/p>\n Another section of Instagram\u2019s terms poses a less concerning, yet potentially more damaging concern.\u00a0 What happens if you were to post something such as a pretty mountain scene that you found somewhere on the internet?\u00a0 Seems like an innocent\u2014at most disingenuous\u2014way of gaining the likes of your followers, but this move could cost you way more than just a frowning follower or two.\u00a0 Instagram\u2019s Terms of Use provide that when you post something, you certify that it is in fact yours, so that when you grant them their exceedingly broad license, they can use what you post without worry of infringing on someone else\u2019s intellectual property rights.[6]<\/a>\u00a0 The terms further provide that, \u201cyou agree to pay for all royalties, fees, and any other monies owed by reason of content you post.\u201d[7]<\/a>\u00a0 This means if you were to do something as seemingly innocent as save a pretty photo that\u2019s not your own and post it for your followers to see, you could face a myriad of debts and financial repercussions from, once again, tapping your thumb on that post button.<\/p>\n While all of this does sound bleak, there is a silver lining for Instagram users.\u00a0The scary prospect of photos meant for several hundred finding their way before the eyes of literally everyone in the world is probably an unlikely scenario.\u00a0 Instagram is not likely to exploit its license that you granted it by blissfully clicking \u201caccept\u201d because it would deal a damaging blow to its reputation, and among other things it would cultivate a sense of weariness amid the social media platform\u2019s users.[8]<\/a><\/p>\n This of course doesn\u2019t mean Instagram can\u2019t share your posts, though, so in order to post with utmost caution, Instagram users should make their profiles \u201cprivate.\u201d\u00a0 Instagram notes in its Terms of Use that all of its licensure language is subject to the user\u2019s own Privacy Policy, meaning that publicly shared photos will only come from profiles that are set to public.[9]<\/a>\u00a0 But, the categorization of public and private profiles is merely a construct within the Instagram platform itself, so at any moment that dichotomy could dissolve, dumping all one billion users into the public pool of possible worldwide sharing.\u00a0 Next time you want to \u201cshare the world\u2019s moments,\u201d[10]<\/a> remember that you might just be sharing them with the whole world.<\/p>\n \n [1]<\/a>See\u00a0<\/em>Instagram Logo and Tagline<\/em>, Logo and Taglines, (https:\/\/www.logotaglines.com\/instagram-logo-tagline\/).<\/p>\n [2]<\/a>See <\/em>Nerushka Bowen, Who Owns Your Instagram Content<\/em>, Social Media Law Bulletin, (Jan. 28, 2015), https:\/\/www.socialmedialawbulletin.com\/2015\/01\/who-owns-your-instagram-content\/.<\/p>\n [3]<\/a>See <\/em>Caroline Cakebread, You\u2019re Not Alone, No One Reads Terms of Service Agreements<\/em>, Business Insider, Nov. 15, 2017, https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/deloitte-study-91-percent-agree-terms-of-service-without-reading-2017-11<\/a>(presenting survey results of individuals aged 18-34).<\/p>\n [4]<\/a>Terms of Use<\/em>, Instagram, https:\/\/help.instagram.com\/581066165581870<\/a>(last visited Dec. 6, 2018); see also\u00a0<\/em>Instagram and Copyright \u2013 What Are the Terms of Use?<\/em>, Copyrightlaws.com (Dec. 11, 2017), https:\/\/www.copyrightlaws.com\/instagram-content-copyright\/.<\/p>\n [5]<\/a>See\u00a0<\/em>Bowen, Who Owns Your Instagram Content<\/em>, Social Media Law Bulletin, (Jan. 28, 2015).<\/p>\n [6]<\/a>See Terms of Use<\/em>, Instagram, (last visited Dec. 6, 2018); see also\u00a0<\/em>Instagram and Copyright \u2013 What Are the Terms of Use?<\/em>, Copyrightlaws.com (Dec. 11, 2017).<\/p>\n [7]<\/a>Id.<\/em><\/p>\n [8]<\/a>See, e.g. <\/em>Mike Isaac and Sheera Frenkel,\u00a0Facebook Security Breach Exposes Accounts of 50 Million Users<\/em>, The New York Times, (Sept. 28, 2018), https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/09\/28\/technology\/facebook-hack-data-breach.html<\/a>(explaining that Facebook\u2019s data breach hurt the website\u2019s reputation).<\/p>\n