It seems like only last month (because it was) that everyone was threatening to quit Instagram over the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy it introduced in December, and now here we are on the brink of that update happening. Of course, the policies that go into effect Jan. 19 — instead of today as originally planned — don’t include those pesky advertising efforts that caused such a stir.

Instagram sent an email to users this morning to remind them that the new policies, now without the provisions many saw as the service trying to monetize or commoditize user images for advertising purposes.

In the email Instagram points users to a blog post from a month ago where it again, lays out a few key points, ostensibly to prevent anyone who still has a tendency to freak out to remain calm:

Here are a few key updates:

• Nothing has changed about your photos’ ownership or who can see them.

• Our updated privacy policy helps Instagram function more easily as part of Facebook by being able to share info between the two groups. This means we can do things like fight spam more effectively, detect system and reliability problems more quickly, and build better features for everyone by understanding how Instagram is used.

• Our updated terms of service help protect you, and prevent spam and abuse as we grow.

In the future, Instagram says it will refrain from putting new terms in that deal with advertising they might want to possibly maybe pursue in the future, but have yet to develop, before changing its user agreements. Again, the changes take effect Jan. 19 and not Jan. 16, so if you still feel like opting out, you’ve got three additional days to cancel your account.

This morning’s email in full:

Hello,

Our community has grown by many millions of people since we wrote our original Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. As we announced in December, we have updated our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. These policies also now take into account the feedback we received from the Instagram Community. We’re emailing you to remind you that, as we announced last month, these updated policies will be in effect as of January 19th, 2013.

You can read our blog post that highlights some of the key updates. And remember, these updates don’t change the fact that you own your photos that you post on Instagram, and our privacy controls work just as they did before.

Thank you,
The Instagram Team

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