Editing Vultr (section)

==Consumer-protection incidents==

===Vultr amends its terms of service (2024)===

Initially, Vultr's [[terms of service]] (TOS) declared the following content policy for users in clause 5.1<ref name="tos_2016">{{Cite web |title=Legal |url=https://www.vultr.com/legal/tos/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160419054251/https://www.vultr.com/legal/tos/ |archive-date=19 Apr 2016 |access-date=15 Mar 2025 |website=Vultr}}</ref>

<blockquote>
“As between You and Vultr, Vultr acknowledges that it claims no proprietary rights in or to the content (including without limitation, text, software, music, sound, audio visual works, motion pictures, photographs, animation, video and graphics) supplied by You for use on Your web site ("Your Content"). You hereby grant to Vultr a non-exclusive, worldwide and royalty-free license to copy, make derivative works, display, perform, use, broadcast and transmit on and via the Internet Your Content, solely for the benefit of You and to enable Vultr to perform its obligations hereunder.”
</blockquote>

In June 2021, Vultr rewrote large portions of its TOS, moving clause 5.1 to 15(c), and adding the following content policy under clause '''12.1(a)'''<ref name="tos_2021">{{Cite web |title=Legal Section 12: User Content |url=https://www.vultr.com/legal/tos/#tos_12 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210729200233/https://www.vultr.com/legal/tos/#tos_12 |archive-date=29 Jul 2021 |access-date=15 Mar 2025 |website=Vultr}}</ref> which would become highly controversial:

<blockquote>
“You hereby grant to Vultr a non-exclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, fully paid-up, worldwide license (including the right to sublicense through multiple tiers) to use, reproduce, process, adapt, publicly perform, publicly display, modify, prepare derivative works, publish, transmit and distribute each of your User Content, or any portion thereof, in any form, medium or distribution method now known or hereafter existing, known or developed, and otherwise use and commercialize the User Content in any way that Vultr deems appropriate, without any further consent, notice and/or compensation to you or to any third parties, for purposes of providing the Services to you.”
</blockquote>

In addition to this, a new statement appeared in the ''Terms of Service Highlights'' which strongly implies that users implicitly "agree" to any existing or new terms every time they use Vultr's services:<ref name="tos_2021" />

<blockquote>
“Each time you access and/or use the Services, you agree to be bound by these Terms and any Additional Terms that apply to you.”
</blockquote>

Regardless of this remark, Vultr occasionally asks users to reaffirm their subjugation to those terms.

In March 2024, Vultr asked users to accept its new terms, including clause 12.1(a) mentioned above.<ref name="vultr_blog">{{Cite web |date=29 Mar 2024 |title=A Note About Vultr's Terms of Service |url=https://blogs.vultr.com/a-note-about-vultrs-terms-of-service |access-date=15 Mar 2025 |website=Vultr}}</ref> This sparked an outrage among users, who hadn't noticed the 12.1(a) policy until 2024, 3 years after its debut (this is typical for a [[EULA roofie]]). The most notable complaint came from a [https://www.reddit.com/r/selfhosted/comments/1bouuv7/warning_vultr_a_major_cloud_provider_is_now/ Reddit post] claiming that Vultr has rights to use user data for the purposes of training artificial intelligence.<ref>{{Cite web |last=u/WyvernCo |date=27 Mar 2024 |title=Warning: Vultr (a major cloud provider) is now claiming full perpetual commercial rights over all hosted content |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/selfhosted/comments/1bouuv7/warning_vultr_a_major_cloud_provider_is_now/?rdt=64600 |access-date=15 Mar 2025 |via=Reddit}}</ref> In response to the criticism, Vultr's legal team altered clause 12.1(a) the next day (after the post) to delete the offending paragraph.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Legal Section 12: User Content |url=https://www.vultr.com/legal/tos/#tos_12 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328233729/https://www.vultr.com/legal/tos/#tos_12 |archive-date=28 Mar 2024 |access-date=15 Mar 2025 |website=Vultr}}</ref>

The user backlash also provoked an official response from Vultr in which the company wrote:<ref name="vultr_blog" />

<blockquote>
“We value the feedback we receive from our customers, and we want to assure you that Vultr claims no rights to your content. Vultr has never claimed any rights to, used, accessed, nor allowed access to or shared your content, other than as may be required by law or for security purposes.”
</blockquote>

Despite Vultr's vow that access to the user's content is solely for security purposes, the wording of their TOS did not reflect this sentiment, and was widely criticized as a gross failure in transparency, or more cynically, as a stealthy attempt to seize the rights to users' personal data for any purpose, without consent.

As of January 2025, the older 15(c) clause remains in force:<ref>{{Cite web |title=Legal Section 15: Intellectual Property Rights |url=https://www.vultr.com/legal/tos/#tos_15 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250124095655/https://www.vultr.com/legal/tos/#tos_15 |archive-date=24 Jan 2025 |access-date=15 Mar 2025 |website=Vultr}}</ref>

<blockquote>
“As between You and Vultr, Vultr acknowledges that it claims no proprietary rights in or to Your Content. You hereby grant to Vultr a non-exclusive, worldwide and royalty-free license to copy, make derivative works, display, perform, use, broadcast and transmit on and via the Internet Your Content, solely for the benefit of You and to enable Vultr to perform its obligations under these Terms.”
</blockquote>

Note that the wording of this statement closely mimics Vultr's original 5.1 clause predating 2021. Despite the reassuring tone of this license, it remains unclear what "solely for the benefit of You" means in this context, since that phrase does not appear anywhere else in the TOS.