Uncategorized admin July 24, 2025 0 Comments

WeTransfer Clarifies Terms Of Service Amid AI Training Backlash

Amid backlash about using customer files to train AI models, file-sharing service WeTransfer has recently amended its terms and conditions to reflect that users continue to retain ownership of their content. The backlash came after the company originally updated its terms and conditions on July 1 to state that people using WeTransfer grant it a “perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable, sub-licensable license” to use their content. The purpose of this license was for WeTransfer to operate and improve its service, including the performance of machine learning models that enhance the company’s content moderation process.

Further, the terms and conditions stated that with this license, WeTransfer would have the right to “reproduce, distribute, modify, prepare derivative works based upon, broadcast, communicate to the public, publicly display, and perform” the content that users send via its service. “You will not be entitled to compensation for any use of Content by us under these Terms,” the company added. Users were concerned that this would allow the company to train AI models on the data they send using the service, and about the company’s rights to sell and distribute their work. In a blog post addressing user concerns, the company emphasised that users retain ownership over their content.

So what do the amended terms say?

Given the backlash, the company’s amended terms now state that users grant WeTransfer a royalty-free license to use content “for the purposes of operating, developing, and improving” its services as per its privacy policy. The privacy policy further details these purposes, some of which include:

Providing distribution and payment collection features as well as facilitating and processing orders.
Sending content recipients a link to download user content
Serve and measure the effectiveness of both personalised and non-personalised ads
Analyse the WeTransfer service and its user base to improve the development of its services (like advertising), business activities (like marketing), and technologies.
Enforce the terms of service
Maintain the safety and security of the service. This includes detecting and acting against suspicions of illegal or unwanted activity or user content, such as Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), malware, fraud, and copyright infringement.

The rationale behind the original terms and conditions:

WeTransfer explains that it does not use machine learning or any form of AI to process the content that users share via its service. It adds that it included the section about machine learning in its original update to “include the possibility of using AI to improve content moderation.” However, it has not built such a feature yet.

With regards to the licensing terms specified under the terms of service, the company explains that it has not made any changes to how WeTransfer handles content. “The change in wording was meant to simplify the terms while ensuring our customers can enjoy WeTransfer’s features and services as they were built to be used,” it said.

Why it matters:

This isn’t the first time users have raised concerns about a tech company mentioning AI model training in its updated terms of service. For instance, in June 2024, in a very similar situation, Adobe updated its terms and conditions to say that it may access user content through automated and manual methods. The updated terms also said that users provide it a license to use, reproduce, publicly display, distribute, modify, and create derivative works based on users’ content for operating and improving its service. Soon enough, Adobe clarified that it doesn’t rely on users’ content to train any generative AI tool.