EyeEm updates policy for using uploaded content to train AI models

Stock photo marketplace EyeEm has updated its terms and conditions to specify that content uploaded to the platform will be used to train artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), the company acquired by Spain-based Freepik in 2023. Can use. Model. The platform has also asked its users that if they do not agree with this, they should not add any photos to the EyeEm community and should remove all existing images. However, another section of the terms and conditions highlights that if an account is deleted, the company will not pay the photographers’ accumulated share.

according to a report Via TechCrunch, the company informed its users about the change via email. The email reportedly highlighted that EyeEm is adding a new clause to its terms and conditions that will grant it the right to leverage users’ content to train AI. The email also specified that users have 30 days to opt out by deleting all of their content. Notably, the publication also reported that EyeEm’s photo library contained 160 million photos and had 1.5 lakh users at the time of the acquisition.

Section 8.1 of Terms and Conditions Page EyeEm contains information about ‘Grants of Rights’ to its community, including obtaining non-exclusive, worldwide, transferable and sub-licensable rights for its commercial activities. It now includes a new paragraph that says, “This specifically includes the sub-licensable and transferable right to use Your Content exclusively for the training, development and improvement of software, algorithms and machine learning models. If you do not agree with this, you should not add your content to the EyeEm Community.”

Although the company gives an opt-out, it requires them to remove all the content on the platform. Specifically, many users are struggling to find the batch delete option for images, so those users are stuck deleting images one by one. However, even if they remove the images on their own, images already available on the marketplace or shared with its distribution platforms will not go away immediately. In Section 13, the company says, “Complete deletion from IEM Markets and distribution partner platforms may take up to 180 days from the date of your deletion request.”

But there is more. In the same section, the company also adds, “All license agreements made before complete deletion and the rights of use granted by them remain unaffected by the deletion or request for deletion.” This means that even removing content does not revoke the license granted to the platform if the user has entered into a license agreement.

And finally, one more warning. In Section 10.3 regarding license shares and payments, EyeEm states, “If your account is deleted, you lose the right to payment for all accumulated and future license shares. So please make sure you submit a payment request before deleting your account.”

Based on the sections highlighted above, it can be inferred that the company has put in place several conditions for users who do not want to give consent for their images being used by AI. Many obstacles including over-email notification, short period of 30 days, and difficulties in the removal process such as the need to submit a form to the company for market removal, and risking payment if the account is removed certainly create confusion. and difficulty for users to opt-out.

In particular, the European Union, in its General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Description Consent states, “Consent must be express, meaning it requires a statement or clear affirmative act. Consent cannot be implied and must always be given by means of an opt-in, declaration or active offer, so that there is no misunderstanding that the data subject has consented to particular processing.