Did you know that Instagram, along with Facebook and other social media sites, can use any pictures you post for whatever they want without your permission? They can do it and have done it numerous times without any recognition or royalties to the photographer( that’s you).

If you have ever read the first few lines in Instagram’s terms and conditions (you know, that box you checked without reading), it says word-for-word: “Instagram does not claim ownership of any content that you post on or through the Service. Instead, you hereby grant to Instagram a non-exclusive, fully paid and royalty-free, transferable, sub-licensee, worldwide license to use the content that you post on or through the Service, Subject to the Service’s Privacy Policy.”

This in turn means that if you took a cute selfie in a new dress, that picture could potentially be put in a magazine or on a billboard to advertise the dress without you receiving a cent. This is how “free” social media businesses such as Instagram get paid. They exploit their users as free models to advertise products, while getting all the money from the advertising for themselves.

You may be thinking, “Well this hasn’t happened to me.”

The scariest thing is that it may already have. In order to avoid potential lawsuits, Instagram posts these advertisements in different countries and then states where the photo was taken, which is why when you first open Instagram, it asks permission to access your location.

So unless you want to be a free model, be careful what you post because it may come back to bite you later.