Assignment 2: Policy Primer for NET303

1. Policy Primer NET303 Ingrid Kimber
What exactly have I
‘agreed’ to?
(Image: http://www.buzzbinpadillacrt.com/)
(Image: http://www.creativematch.com/)

2. • 400 million active users
• 40 billion photos shared
• 80 million average photos
uploaded each day
(Instagram n.d)
Instagram is a mobile photo
sharing app with over
400 million users.
“Instagram is a fun and
quirky way to share your life
with friends through a
series of pictures”
(Instagram n.d.).
(Image:http://ui-cloud.com/)

3. What are the possible
implications of ‘sharing your
life with friends’ via
Instagram?
All the legal stuff can be found in the:
• Terms of Use (5115 words)
• Privacy Policy (3025 words), and
• Community Guidelines (1201
words) (Instagram n.d)
“I’ve read the
terms before
signing up”
SAID NO
ONE EVER!
(Image: Instagram)

4. “Oh bugger!
What exactly
have I agreed to?
Can Instagram share my
personal information and
data with third-parties?
Instagram does what with
my personal information?
Instagram can modify or
delete my account without
warning?
A violation of the terms of
use could land me in court?
Instagram can do what
with my photos?
I’m breeching the terms of use if I do what?
What personal information
of mine is collected?

5. According to
Instagram’s Privacy
Policy the collection
of [personal]
“information allows
us to help you or
others be ‘found’ on
Instagram.
(Instagram n.d)
Instagram collects the following
information about YOU:
What personal information is
collected by Instagram and why? • Username
• Password
• E-mail address
• First name
• Last name
• Age
• Profile picture
• Bio
• Phone number
• Location data
• Gender
• Photos
• Comments
• Hashtags
• Likes
• Contacts list
• IP address
• Browser type
• Pages viewed
• Search terms
(Digital Double, n.d.)

6. I know I’m a little bit slow, but I don’t understand
why Instagram needs to collect my IP address,
likes, searches, type of browser etc... so I can be
‘found’ by other users?
I think in this situation ‘found’ is being used as a
euphemism for ‘advertisements’. Instagram’s
goal is to make its ads "as relevant as possible
[by] using the best information [they] have to do
that” (Reilly, 2014). Therefore, they collect as much
of your data as they can.

7. In 2012 Facebook bought Instagram for
$1 billion dollars (Hill, 2012). Although it’s
not explicitly stated, it appears Facebook
can access your personal data from
Instagram because they are an ‘affiliate’.
Now that Instagram has my
personal information what
exactly do they do with it?
According to the
Privacy Policy,
Instagram shares your
personal information
with their ‘affiliates’
and ‘service providers’
to “help provide,
understand, and
improve the Service”
(Instagram n.d)
(Image: http://lakemacholidayparks.com.au/)

8. So, Instagram sells my personal
information to their affiliated
businesses?
No, relax! Instagram would never ‘sell’
or ‘rent’ your personal information.
They aren’t that greedy, they merely
give it away for free.

9. Your personal
information is stored and
processed in the United
States and possibly in
other countries. Privacy
Laws vary in the US from
Australia. Your data
could be shared with law
enforcement agencies
and governments.
(Deosaran, 2015)
Where exactly is my personal
information stored?
https://upload.wikimedia.org
(Image: http://i.ebayimg.com/)
(Image: http://buysellnaplesrealestate.com/) (Image: https://upload.wikimedia.org)
(Image: https://upload.wikimedia.org) (Image: https://upload.wikimedia.org)

10. So, even though I live in Australia I
could technically be under United
States Government surveillance?
Yes. Your online interactions and personal
information could be shared with the
Justice Department, FBI, IRS, the Defense
Department and the Department of
Homeland Security, just to name a few.

11. DO NOT POST…
Genitals
Drug use
Self harm
Nudity
Nipples
Naked bottoms
Eating disorders
Sexual service’s
Promoting hate
Sexually suggestive images
(Instagram n.d)
Are there any rules around the
type of pictures I can post?
You must comply with
Instagram’s ‘Community
Guidelines’.
“The Guidelines were created
to help foster and protect the
community.
Overstepping these
boundaries may result in a
disabled account”.
(Instagram n.d)

12. How does Instagram know that I have
uploaded images that aren’t appropriate
according to their Community Guidelines?
Instagram “relies solely on the reports
and complaints of other users to decide
whether a photo is offensive or violating
the guidelines” (Sabino, 2015).

13. Can Instagram remove my
content if it receives a
complaint?
According to the Terms of
Use, Instagram “reserves
the right to modify or
terminate the Service or
access to the Service for
any reason without
notice, at any time”
(Instagram n.d).
(Image: http://s4.scoopwhoop.com/swet/trav/p2.jpg)

14. I’ve recently read that Janet Jackson has
had content removed from Instagram due
to copyright infringement, is this true?
Yes. A number of fans received copyright
infringement notices from Instagram for videos and
photos taken at her concert. The content has
subsequently been removed from Instagram. Many
users don’t believe posting these images and videos
are a breech of copyright (Britton, 2015).

15. What exactly can Instagram
do with my photos?
When you sign up to the
service you grant Instagram
a non-exclusive, fully paid
and royalty-free,
transferable,
sub-licensable, worldwide
license to use the Content
that you post
(Instagram n.d).
A photo you own and upload could
appear in an Instagram advertisement
and you wouldn’t receive a cent…
(Image: http://neurogadget.com)

16. So you’re telling me that my photos, like my
selfies, pictures of my cat and what I ate for
dinner could be used by Instagram, like in their
advertising campaigns?
Yes. You could literally become the face of
Instagram and you would not receive any
monies because you agreed to the royalty-free,
transferable, sub-licensable, worldwide license
for Instagram to use your content.

17. “Brisbane teen considers legal
action after Lorna Jane 'stole' her
Instagram photo”Does this mean a third-party
can use my photos?
In principle Instagram can
transfer permission to a third-
party to use your photos
(Deosaran, 2015).
In the case of the Brisbane teen
considering legal action against
Lorna Jane, Instagram could
transfer the license to Lorna Jane to
use the image without having to
pay royalties to the image owner or
be in breech of copyright. All
because the Brisbane teen
accepted these terms. (Ward, 2015)
(Sydney Morning Herald, 2015)

18. What about harassing or
unwanted behavior?
“You must not create or
submit unwanted email,
comments, likes or other
forms of commercial or
harassing communications,
like spam” and you must
not “stalk”.
(Instagram n.d).
Don’t submit
unwanted likes
Don’t spam
Don’t stalk
(Image: https://rymera.com.au)
(Image: http://ih0.redbubble.net)
(Image: http://cdn.flaticon.com)

19. Are you telling me that it could be considered stalking
if I look at my ex-partners Instagram feed a few times
a day? And if I like every photo, this could possibly
mean my behavior is harassing?
Yes. In theory this could be considered
as stalking and harassing behavior as
stated in Instagram's Terms of Use.

20. This all seems like pretty heavy stuff. I think I
might delete my Instagram account to help
protect my privacy.
You can deactivate/delete your account at anytime by completing
an online form, however, Instagram’s Privacy Policy stats that
“Instagram, its Affiliates, or its Service Providers may retain
information (including your profile information) and User Content
for a commercially reasonable time for backup, archival, and/or
audit purposes” (Instagram, n.d.).
Looks like your personal data will be hanging around for awhile.

21. Do you think Instagram’s Privacy
Policy, Terms of Use and Community
Guidelines are effective?
I’m no genius, but I think the Terms of
Use and associated policies are
ineffective. I found sexually explicit
images within a few seconds of
searching. I found images that infringe
on copyright laws. The policies aren’t
transparent and I have no idea who
Instagram’s ‘affiliates’ are. Images are
taken down and filtered without
consultation… and to top it off I am still
unsure about what is exactly done with
my personal data.

22. References
Britton, L. (2015). Janet Jackson reportedly removing fan videos and photos of her tour from Instagram. Retrieved
from http://www.nme.com/news/janet-jackson/89168#WpafW1SSDfSZ6CI9.99
Digital Double. (n.d.). Instagram. Retrieved from http://www.digital-double.com/policy/instagram/
Deosaran. N. (2015). Who owns your Instagram content? Retrieved from
http://www.socialmedialawbulletin.com/2015/01/who-owns-your-instagram-content/
Hill, K. (2012). 10 Reasons Why Facebook Bought Instagram. Retrieved from
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/04/11/ten-reasons-why-facebook-bought-instagram/
Instagram. (n.d.). Privacy Policy. Retrieved from https://help.instagram.com/155833707900388/
Instagram. (n.d.). Terms of Use. Retrieved from https://help.instagram.com/478745558852511/
Instagram. (n.d.). Community Guideliners. Retrieved from https://help.instagram.com/477434105621119/
Instagram. (n.d.). Press News. Retrieved from https://instagram.com/press/

23. References
Instagram. (n.d.) Frequently Asked Questions. Retrieved from https://instagram.com/about/faq/
Reilly, C. (2015). Instagram launches targeted ads using Facebook data. Retrieved from
http://www.cnet.com/au/news/instagram-launches-targeted-ads-using-facebook-data/
Sabino, J. (2015). Instagram Updates Guidelines for Inappropriate Photos. Retrieved from
http://www.hngn.com/articles/85317/20150417/instagram-updates-guidelines-inappropriate-photos.htm
Ward. M. (2015). Brisbane teen considers legal action after Lorna Jane 'stole' her Instagram photo. Retrieved
from http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/fashion/brisbane-teen-considers-legal-action-after-lorna-jane-stole-her-
instagram-photo-20151008-gk429m.html#ixzz3pZKaY525