Adobe Creative Cloud Updates Its Terms, Sparks User Concerns

TapTechNews June 7th news, the newly revised terms of Adobe Creative Cloud surprised many users, as Adobe suddenly forced users to consent to sharing their works, allowing Adobe free access to confidential works and absorption users' works for AI training.

The most dissatisfying part is that if users don't consent to the new agreement, they can't continue using the software and even can't uninstall it.

Facing this situation, Adobe first released a perfunctory statement, emphasizing that its terms 'have been like this for years', and then gave some evasive explanations, but this statement obviously didn't satisfy users. Later, Adobe also realized that something was wrong, so it urgently released a new blog article and explained this issue as detailed as possible.

Adobe's initial statement

'This policy has been in place for many years. In order to fulfill our commitment to transparency to our customers, earlier this year, we added some clarifying examples to the terms of use to illustrate when Adobe might access user content. There are many reasons why Adobe accesses user content, such as to provide some of our most innovative cloud features, such as the AI filter in Photoshop and the background removal feature in Adobe Express, and to take measures against prohibited content. Adobe will not access, view, or listen to any local content that exists on the user's device.'

Subsequent explanations

Adobe emphasizes, 'The focus of this update is to tell everyone about the improvements in our existing content review process. With the explosive development of generative AI and our responsibility for innovation, we have added more manual reviews in the content submission review process.'

In simple terms, Adobe now not only scans with programs but also reviews manually, and this review mainly applies to CSAM content and application usage behaviors that violate the company's terms of use, such as sending spam or posting adult content in non-designated areas.

Finally, Adobe also assured everyone:

Adobe will not train the Firefly GenAI model with customer content. The Firefly generative AI model uses licensed content (such as Adobe Stock) and copyrighted public domain content as training data.

Adobe will never own the ownership of customer works. Adobe hosts content to enable customers to use our applications and services, and Adobe does not interfere with the ownership of any customer works.