Updated terms of service seemed to imply that WeTransfer wanted to use files uploaded by users for AI training. WeTransfer backtracks.
It’s one of the current trends in the tech sector: companies developing AI models are trying to collect as much data as possible from their users. Through silent changes to terms of service or complex opt-out procedures, they obtain our “consent”. WeTransfer has also caused uproar and confusion.
The popular service for sending large files via email had recently made changes to its terms of service, which would take effect next month. Section 6.3 drew attention. WeTransfer wrote that users must transfer a “perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable, sublicensable license” for the files they share.
That rather vague wording didn’t make clear what exactly WeTransfer planned to do with files you upload to its servers. It did at least imply that WeTransfer was granting itself extensive usage rights to your personal files. To use the service, accepting this is the only option.
No AI Training
WeTransfer probably assumed that nobody actually reads the terms of service, but unfortunately for the company, the boomerang came back. The connection to AI training was quickly made. WeTransfer responds by stating that it’s not the intention to feed files that users upload and send to AI models.
The relevant section has since been modified. “You hereby grant us a royalty-free license to use your content for the purposes of operating, developing and improving the service”, it now reads, with a link to the privacy policy. Still rather vague if you ask us.
Since the originally Dutch WeTransfer fell into Italian hands last summer, a new wind is blowing through the company. WeTransfer was founded in 2009 to provide a solution for sending large files via email. Like every tech company, WeTransfer doesn’t want to miss on AI, but it won’t be able to simply appropriate access to user data.
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