Some big name celebrities are falling for the the latest hoax on Instagram. It’s a memo claiming that the company will have permission to make deleted photos and messages public and use those posts against them in court. Check out an exampleHERE.
While it’s clear that the memo – which has been circulated in some form or another since 2012 – isn’t real,everyone from the rich and famous to the poor and unknown has fallen for it. Usher,Judd Apatow, Julia Roberts, and US Secretary of Energy Rick Perry are just a few folks perpetuating the fraud.
For the record, Instagram’s policies grant it some basic uses of your photos and messages because it needs permission to display them to other users. As a clarification, the company’s terms of service include a bolded line that reads: “We do not claim ownership of your content, but you grant us a license to use it.” It also says you can end that license at any time “by deleting your content or account.”