Instagram backs off controversial change to its Terms of Use policy

Instagram backs off controversial change to its Terms of Use policy With users lashing out at Instagram over the changes made to its Terms of Use and privacy policy, the popular photo-sharing service backed off the controversial changes on Thursday.

Disclosing that Instagram had made a reversal on the proposed changes, the company's co-founder Kevin Systrom said in a late Thursday blog post that the changes would be backpacked by the Instagram executives, and the company will revert back to the policy which was already in use before the changes were announced.

Instagram's turnaround on the changes to its Terms of Use policy came after the users' forceful criticism of the move which would have allowed the photo-sharing service to use as well as sell the pictures and personal data of the users for advertisement deals.

The infuriated Instagram users largely took the Twitter route to voice their criticism of the changes to the company's Terms of Use policy; with some of the high-profile users, including singer Pink and National Geographic, even vowing to discontinue the use of the service altogether.

Noting that Instagram's reversal on the Terms of Use changes was chiefly a result of the "feedback" it has had from the users, Systrom said in the recent blog post: "We are reverting this advertising section to the original version that has been in effect since we launched the service in October 2010."