WeTransfer issues update on its terms of service and AI

“We don’t use machine learning or any form of AI to process content,” WeTransfer says in the wake of its updated terms and conditions.

Following this morning’s story that the file transfer service WeTransfer is set to update its terms of service, allowing creatives’ work to be used in AI training, the company has replied to Film Stories with a statement.

“We don’t use machine learning or any form of AI to process content shared via WeTransfer,” an email from a member of WeTransfer’s PR team reads. “The passage under discussion was initially updated to include the possibility of using AI to improve content moderation and further enhance our measures to prevent the distribution of illegal or harmful content on the WeTransfer platform.”

The email then explains that the passage in the new terms and conditions – set to come into force on the 8th August – “may have caused confusion for our customers” and so the wording has now been changed to make “the language easier to understand.”

Per that email, the new section reads:

6.3. License to WeTransfer. In order to allow us to operate, provide you with, and improve the Service and our technologies, we must obtain from you certain rights related to Content that is covered by intellectual property rights. You hereby grant us a royalty-free license to use your Content for the purposes of operating, developing, and improving the Service, all in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy.

This is significantly different to the section previously in the terms of service. While they also mentioned content moderation, they also said that users’ work could be used to “reproduce, distribute, modify, prepare derivative works”. As you can see, that segment has now vanished.

The earlier update to WeTransfer’s terms of service prompted much discussion on social media, including several users threatening to leave the service.

You can see the amended terms and services on WeTransfer’s website.