Adobe sparked customer outrage this week by imposing updated terms of service on them. The document forces users to agree to provide the company with access to their content in the cloud storage. Adobe responded to public dissatisfaction by assuring that the changes are minor and it does not intend to appropriate user materials.
Customer Concerns and Adobe’s Response
The new terms of service pop-up started showing to users this week and can’t be easily closed. Before you start working with Photoshop and other applications, you must agree to the terms—without this, you cannot even uninstall the program. The wording of the document has concerned Adobe customers, many of whom work with the company’s software professionally, editing content that belongs to others and is sometimes protected by non-disclosure agreements, notes NIX Solutions.
Adobe explained the innovation in publishing a corporate blog. In the “Access to Your Content” section, several words were changed: the company noted that it “may” access user content through “automated or manual methods.” The corresponding formulation, as it turned out, has been in effect for several months, and a significant part of it has not changed—the company, as before, is not going to train its Firefly generative artificial intelligence model on user content. We’ll keep you updated on any further clarifications or changes from Adobe.
Functionality and Privacy Considerations
The wording about access to content was needed primarily because some functions of the graphic editor must interact with the cloud, including Neural Filters, Liquid Mode, and Remove Background. In addition, user-generated content stored in cloud resources may be subject to scrutiny for illegal content.
Those concerned about their privacy are advised not to transfer content from the cloud to Adobe R&D programs. The corresponding option is disabled in the account settings.
We’ll keep you updated as more information becomes available.