It might be time to move those Instagram photos to another service. It seems that Instagram has never heard of the phrase, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." In a very big WTF moment, the extremely popular photo sharing and editing app decided that it has the right to sell its users photos to third parties without pay or notice.
Yep, you heard that right. That photo you took of your girlfriend laying out on the beach could be in the next stupid Corona commercial without your consent and without paying you a dime.
Here is exactly what the updated Terms of Service says about it:
Instagram does not claim ownership of any Content that you post on or through the Service. Instead, you hereby grant to Instagram a non-exclusive, fully paid and royalty-free, transferable, sub-licensable, worldwide license to use the Content that you post on or through the Service...
Hmmm. So, they do not claim any ownership of your content, but they can do whatever they want with it the second you upload it. Right.
They go on to state that:
Some or all of the Service may be supported by advertising revenue. To help us deliver interesting paid or sponsored content or promotions, you agree that a business or other entity may pay us to display your username, likeness, photos (along with any associated metadata), and/or actions you take, in connection with paid or sponsored content or promotions, without any compensation to you.
Luckily for me, I was never a very big Instagram user, so this is not the worst thing to happen—Apple Maps was. But for those loyal users with hundreds or thousands of photos, this is a huge slap in the face. So if you think what Instagram is doing is complete BS, you can stick it to them where it hurts—leave.
But before you leave, you need to backup your photos.
How to Back Up Your Instagram Photos
If you want to keep all of your photos, you can use Instaport to download your entire photo library to your local hard drive. You just need to sign in with Instagram and then export them all to a .zip file. Exportation to Facebook and Flickr are also in the works.
So, once you have all of your photos saved on your hard drive, you can now move onto deleting your Instagram account.
How to Delete Your Instagram Account
To delete you Instagram, simple follow this link and sign in to your Instagram account, then follow the instructions for removing yourself from their service.
Once you delete your account, all photos, comments, likes, friendships, and all other data will be removed permanently. You also won't be able to sign up with the same username again.
If you're concerned with privacy and with the fact that a giant company can use your content to make a profit, then this is the only option Instagram has given you.
Alternative Apps to Try Out
But not all is lost—your photo-sharing days are not over—there are plenty of alternative apps for both Android and Apple deices out there that you can use.
Flickr
The new Flickr app for Android and iOS has received some pretty great reviews. With a ton of features, and yes, even filters, the app looks to gain plenty of users that will be jumping off the Instagram fanwagon.
You can sign in with Facebook or a Yahoo account. The similarities between the two apps are apparent right from the start, and those that are used to Instagram will feel right at home.
Twitter even recently added photo filters to its apps for Android and iOS. Perfect timing.
Now instead of Tweeting your Instagram pics, you can simply use Twitter for all your photography needs.
Snapseed
Snapseed is another cool Android and iOS photo editing application. It has filters like Grunge and Drama, and allows you to add contrast and light, as well as auto-correct and cropping.
Overall, it's a nice free application.
Pixlr-O-Matic
Pixlr-o-Matic by Autodesk is an already popular app for Android and iOS devices.
There's also Pixlr Express for both Android and iOS.
Tadaa
Tadaa is a great free app with more of an emphasis on filters, though, it's only for iOS.
The number of Tadaa users continues to grow as more and more as people buy smartphones and those smartphone cameras continue to improve.
And Plenty More...
There's also PicYou, StreamZoo, Hipster, and plenty more where that came from. Instagram may have been the most popular of these photo apps, but they seemed to have overstepped their bounds.
Any other photo apps that we might have missed? Let us know in the comments section below.
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