As more and more businesses move their operations to the cloud, concerns over data ownership and privacy have become increasingly important. Recently, cloud server provider Vultr came under fire for its broad terms-of-service that demanded “perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free” rights to customer “content.”

According to a report by The Register, the red tape was updated in January, but it wasn’t until this month that users were asked to agree to the changes by a pop-up that appeared when using their web-based Vultr control panel. This prompted users to look through the terms, and they found clauses granting the US-based company a “worldwide license … to use, reproduce, process, adapt … modify, prepare derivative works, publish, transmit, and distribute” user content.

Given that Vultr hosts servers and storage in the cloud for its subscribers, some feared the company was giving itself too much ownership over their data. This is especially concerning in the age of AI training data being put up for sale by platforms. In response to online outcry, largely stemming from Reddit, Vultr has revised its terms of service to delete those asserted content rights.

CEO J.J. Kardwell told The Register that it was a case of standard legal boilerplate being taken out of context. The clauses were supposed to apply to customer forum posts, rather than private server content. While the terms make more sense with that in mind, one might argue the legalese was overly broad in any case.

“We do not use user data,” Kardwell stressed. “We never have, and we never will. We take privacy and security very seriously. It’s at the core of what we do globally.”

According to Kardwell, the content clauses are entirely separate from user data deployed in its cloud and are more aimed at one’s use of the Vultr website, emphasizing the last line of the relevant fine print: “… for purposes of providing the services to you.” He also pointed out that the wording has been that way for some time, and added the prompt asking users to agree to an updated ToS was actually spurred by unrelated Microsoft licensing changes.

In light of the controversy, Vultr vowed to remove the above section to “simplify and further clarify” its ToS, and has indeed done so. In a separate statement, the company told The Register the removal will be followed by a full review and update to its terms of service.

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(Source: The Register)