Adobe, maker of Photoshop and Creative Cloud, has clashed with its user base by changing its terms of service that, among other things, gives it the right to view your existing files and projects in the name of content moderation .
In Adobe’s words, the changes clarify that the company “may access your content through automated and manual methods, such as for reviewing content.”
Adobe’s reasoning for giving itself the right to comb user content is to detect and remove illegal content, such as child pornography, or CSAM, as well as abusive content or behavior, including spam and phishing.
The company also cited the advent of generative AI, a revolutionary technology that makes it much easier to create realistic images as well as human-sounding text and audio.
It’s not the only company doing things like this. Google uses a mixture of automated analysis and manual review has detect CSAM And Microsoft does something similar.
What are Adobe’s changes?
There were four changes in total in the Terms of use, the first two taking place in sections 2.2 and 4.1. In section 4.1, Adobe states “we reserve the right (but have no obligation) to remove content or restrict access to content, services, and software if any of your content becomes inappropriate.” proves to be in violation of the conditions. »
Additionally, Section 14.1 reduced the number of days a user can file a formal dispute from 60 days to 30 days, while Section 5.3 states that Adobe now reserves the right to remove content from inactive accounts. Adobe says it will attempt to provide notice to inactive accounts to help them avoid deletion, but it does not specify how long an account must remain inactive before account deletion takes place.
The first two changes anger the creative community over what amounts to the classic double-edged sword of privacy and security.
The verbiage appears to only address files uploaded to Adobe Cloud as part of Adobe services.
Why are people angry about Adobe’s new terms of service?
The answer is quite simple. Adobe’s vague and broad language could potentially give the company carte blanche to scan, review and revise any content passing through an Adobe application or Adobe Cloud servers. This has upset creatorswho took to Reddit to complain about the changes, since many of them use Adobe products for professional work that is generally sensitive.
One such example is NDA work – content protected by a nondisclosure agreement. The creator signs such an agreement to access the files in the hope of keeping the files safe from prying eyes until the nondisclosure agreement expires. It’s understandable that people working in this space wouldn’t want Adobe to review something the creator doesn’t have permission to display.
Additionally, creatives who tried to do something were met with resistance from Adobe. Earlier this week, conceptual artist Sam Santala posted on X about his experience of not being able to speak to an Adobe customer service representative, cancel his subscription to Adobe services, or even uninstall Photoshop without first agreeing to the new terms of service.
Adobe responds with clarifications
The terms of service update took place on February 17. Adobe’s terms of service webpage states that it was last updated on this date and was effective on this date. It’s harder to say when users first learned about the change or noticed it, except that complaints about it have increased in recent days.
Anyway, The Register highlights Adobe has been using similar language for years, so while the verbiage may be more explicit and confusing, it’s not inherently different than it was before.
Additionally, Adobe says it only scans files on its cloud service and not on users’ PCs. According to the software giant, “Adobe performs content analysis only on content processed or stored on Adobe’s servers; we do not analyze content processed or stored locally on your device.” This verbiage has not changed.
We asked for feedback and Adobe directed us to a June 6 blog post where he further clarifies his new position.
“The goal of this update was to be clearer about the improvements to our moderation processes that we have in place,” Adobe explains. “Given the explosion of generative AI and our commitment to responsible innovation, we have added more human moderation to our content submission review processes.”
The blog post also reiterates that Adobe does not train its Firefly AI using files stored on Adobe Cloud.
