A South California law firm, Finkelstein & Krinsk, filed a class action suit in a U.S. Federal Court against Instagram for breaching its contract terms with its customers.
The new rules of the Facebook owned photo-sharing service, include language which suggests that Instagram and Facebook could use customer photographs for advertising purposes. Instagram co-founder and Chief Kevin Systrom released a statement denying the accusation.
"I want to be really clear: Instagram has no intention of selling your photos, and we never did. We don't own your photos, you do," as reported by the Associated Foreign Press.
The amendments to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service can be found here. In the following blog, Systrom address issues pertinent to the suit filed against it and tried to debunk the allegations hoisted against the company.
Facebook spokesperson also ridiculed the lawsuit, saying that the suit was "without merit" and it will "vigorously" fight back the allegations as reported by the AFP.
Never the less, attorneys from Finkelstein & Krinsk says in its complaint, "Instagram is taking its customers property rights while insulating itself from all liability," The purported concessions by Instagram in its press release and final version of the new terms were nothing more than a public relations campaign to address public discontent," as reported by Yahoo News.
The law firm is also suing for legal fees. The firm says that tens of thousands of Instagram users in California are eligible for joining the class action suit.
Instagram was founded in 2010 by Kevin Systrom and Cheyenne Foster. The service allows users to take photographs and apply a digital filter to the pictures before sharing it on various social media sites. In 2010, the service already had one million registered users.
