Artists got an unpleasant surprise when they opened Photoshop this week, as they were shown a pop-up window asking them to agree to new terms of service. Among the changes: Adobe now says it has the right to access customers’ content through “automated or manual methods.”
Now it’s true that when we use cloud services, we sacrifice a certain amount of privacy. And it’s not unusual for social networks, for example, to claim similar rights — when you share your photos on Facebook, you’re also giving Facebook the right to use those photos. But we’re not talking about your personal Facebook or Instagram photos; Photoshop is used by many, many professional artists for their livelihoods. They might also be working on sensitive or confidential material.
The moment you upload your data to some company cloud you no longer have control over it. They can use however the want it.
They said they will not change the business model. Can we trust them ?
If I had a nickel for every time a company kept that promise, I’d owe money
I’m hoping. I’ve been a Serif customer since the 00’s. Not much we can do except be very vocal, and remind Serif and Canva that if they go the Adobe route, they’ll risk becoming irrelevant. Difference is their power.