In Short
- Instagram business accounts must comply with data protection laws, including the Privacy Act 1988 in Australia.
- Ensure you obtain consent to collect, store, and use personal data shared via Instagram.
- Regularly review your privacy policy to reflect your use of Instagram and ensure it is accessible to users.
Tips for Businesses
As a business on Instagram, it’s crucial to disclose how you collect and use data through your account. Make sure your privacy policy is up to date and includes clear consent mechanisms, especially if you run ads or promotions. Protect customer data by following the Privacy Act guidelines and consider using Instagram’s built-in tools to manage data collection.
In our modern world, social media is becoming increasingly important for marketing businesses and selling products and services. Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms, known for its photo-sharing capabilities. By uploading creative and popular content on Instagram, your business has the potential to reach millions of people worldwide. Many businesses generate almost all of their revenue from marketing on Instagram. However, using Instagram to market your brand may involve issues surrounding:
- privacy;
- data collection; and
- ownership of the content.
This article will examine the key legal issues surrounding Instagram’s policies and explain how they may impact your business’ future.
Instagram Can (Technically) Exploit Your Content
While Instagram doesn’t own the content that you post, they have a very broad licence over your work. Specifically, this licence gives them the right to:
- house;
- use;
- distribute;
- modify;
- run;
- copy;
- publicly display;
- translate; and
- create derivative works of your content.
Additionally, Instagram has a legal licence to:
- transfer their licence over your work to anyone else; and
- grant a sublicense of your work to anyone else.
They can do this anywhere in the world and do not have to pay you for your work.
In practical terms, this means that Instagram can take any content that you post about your business and potentially develop and market those products themselves. Instagram can also use your brand for advertising and marketing purposes, all without compensating you. Furthermore, Instagram does not have to credit any of your content if it uses it.
In reality, it is not very likely that Instagram is going to steal your company’s logo or sweatshirt design. However, it is important to know that it does technically have the right to do so. Instagram’s terms state that you can end the licence by deleting your content or account. However, the licence will continue to apply to any content that you may have shared with others.
In addition to the above, Instagram:
- can change your username;
- does not guarantee that your content is going to be secure; and
- is not responsible for any financial loss that you might suffer as a result of their actions.
Running Giveaways Legally
You should be mindful of potential legal issues when running competitions or giveaways on Instagram. Although they are very popular, you may need to conduct a bit more research before launching a promotion. This is because you are legally responsible for enforcing the competition rules that may apply in your business’ industry.
If you are unsure about which rules will apply to your business’ giveaway or competition, be sure to check Instagram’s terms of use and conduct some online research.
Continue reading this article below the formInstagram’s Advertising Policies
When running ads on Instagram, businesses must adhere to the platform’s advertising policies. These policies prohibit the promotion of illegal products or services and restrict content in sensitive categories such as alcohol, gambling, and financial services. Ads must not contain deceptive, false, or misleading claims, and should respect intellectual property rights. Instagram requires clear disclosures for sponsored content, and ads targeting minors are subject to additional restrictions.
Businesses in regulated industries, such as healthcare and finance, must ensure their ads comply with both Instagram’s policies and relevant industry regulations. It is key to review and understand these policies thoroughly before launching any ad campaign to avoid potential account restrictions or legal issues.
Restrictions on Your Business’ Branding
There are certain restrictions on how you can promote your Instagram profile and business. Some of these restrictions include:
1. ‘Instagram’ Labelling
You cannot combine or use the words ‘Insta’ or ‘gram’ with your brand.
For example, if you exclusively run your business on Instagram, you might want your potential customers to associate your company with being on Instagram. If so, you cannot use ‘insta’ or ‘gram’ within your:
- company name;
- branding; and
- promotional materials.
Instead, you can only advertise that your brand is ‘on Instagram’.
2. Mentioning Other Social Media Platforms
You cannot mention other social media platforms or networks (other than those also affiliated with Facebook) in the same spot as where you advertise your Instagram. This is other than in a general “follow us on…” section within your branding material.
This means that it is okay to include Instagram if you have a website banner which outlines your different social media links. However, you cannot mention other social network platforms together with Instagram in, for example, a blog post.
3. Hashtags
You cannot hashtag ‘insta’ or ‘gram’ on any other social networks, even if you intend it to be a general hashtag that is not related to Instagram.
4. Approval for Using Screenshots
You will need to obtain approval if you wish to use a screenshot of Instagram while, for example, advertising your Instagram profile. This advertisement might be in a:
- commercial;
- television show;
- web series;
- weekly show; or
- film.
5. Instagram’s Content Removal and Account Suspension Policies
Businesses should be aware of Instagram’s content removal and account suspension policies. Instagram reserves the right to remove content or suspend accounts that violate its Community Guidelines or Terms of Use. This can include posts that infringe on intellectual property rights, contain hate speech, promote illegal activities, or violate privacy norms. If your business account is flagged for a violation, Instagram may remove the specific content, restrict your account’s visibility, or, in severe cases, disable the account entirely. It is essential to understand that even unintentional violations can lead to these consequences.
To protect your business presence on the platform, regularly review Instagram’s policies, respond promptly to any violation notices, and maintain thorough records of your content and interactions. If your account is suspended, Instagram offers an appeal process; however, resolution can take time and may impact your business operations. Therefore, it is advisable to diversify your online presence and not rely solely on Instagram for customer communication and marketing.
6. Buying Likes and Followers
The number of followers or likes on your business’ social media can greatly influence the growth of your brand. The more followers you have, the more revenue you are potentially going to earn. As a result, many apps have opened that claim to collect likes or followers for your Instagram profile.
However, be cautious before deciding to use one of these apps. Instagram does not permit the artificial collection of likes and followers or the use of bots to post repetitive comments and content. As Instagram manages your usage of the app, if the rates at which you are liking, commenting, or following other users are not consistent with normal human usage patterns (even if it is a human doing this), then Instagram may temporarily block your account. If they suspect that a bot is behind your account, they might even delete it.
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Age Considerations for Instagram Use in Australia
Australian businesses using Instagram for marketing should be aware of potential changes to age-related regulations. While Instagram’s current policy requires users to be at least 13 years old, the Australian government is looking to implement stricter legislation that could significantly impact social media use by younger audiences. This proposed change may require platforms like Instagram to implement more robust age verification measures and could affect how businesses engage with users under a certain age.
Companies operating in Australia should stay informed about these developments and be prepared to adjust their Instagram strategies accordingly. It is advisable to regularly review target demographics and ensure content and engagement practices align with both Instagram’s policies and emerging Australian regulations regarding minors.
Implementing age-appropriate marketing practices and being cautious about data collection from younger users will help maintain compliance and protect your brand’s reputation in this changing landscape. As the regulatory environment evolves, Australian businesses should be ready to adapt their social media approaches to meet new requirements.
How Instagram Collects Your Data
Instagram collects your data when you:
- sign up;
- post content;
- share content; and
- privately message someone.
This includes collecting the metadata that attaches to your content, like the:
- location that you took a photo; and
- date that you posted something.
Instagram also collects your transaction information such as your credit card numbers and shipping details. They also collect information from the particular device that you use to access Instagram.
Therefore, if your employee is in charge of your business’ Instagram profile and uses their personal phone to manage it, Instagram will be collecting information from the employee’s personal phone.
Instagram’s data policy goes into great detail about how they use your data. We have summarised some key points below:
- phone information: Instagram collects data about your phone’s hardware, software, storage space, app names, signal strength and even its battery life. In other words, Instagram can access pretty much any files that you may have and all of your settings;
- operations: Instagram can also monitor how you are using your phone. For example, they can see when you open an app, when you send it to the background or when you select or click on anything;
- identifiers: Instagram also uses cookies to collect your data from other applications, like the games you play or any other apps associated with Facebook. This is how you might see an ad for something on Facebook that you had only searched for on Instagram;
- data from device settings: Instagram also monitors your GPS location on your phone and where you take certain photos that you have uploaded. This is how it can suggest certain location tags for you when you post a picture;
- network and connections: Instagram also collects information about your mobile operator, timezone, mobile number and even your internet connection speed.
Key Takeaways
Businesses using Instagram must manage key legal, branding, and data risks. Instagram can use, modify, and share posted content without payment or credit. Strict rules govern giveaways, ads, and the use of terms like ‘Insta’ or ‘gram’, while policy breaches may lead to content removal or account suspension. The platform also collects detailed data from devices managing business accounts, including employees’ personal phones. Australian businesses should be aware of stricter age-related regulations. To protect their brand and remain compliant, businesses must understand Instagram’s policies and carefully manage their use of the platform.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Instagram can legally use, modify, and distribute your posted content without paying or crediting you. There are strict rules around giveaways, advertising, branding, and the use of terms like ‘Insta’ or ‘gram’. Violating Instagram’s policies may result in the removal of your content or account suspension, which can impact your business’ visibility.
Instagram collects extensive data from devices used to access business accounts, including phone hardware details, app usage, GPS location, cookies from other apps, and network information. This means if employees use personal phones to manage business profiles, Instagram also gathers data from their personal devices and settings.
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