Adobe has gained permission from the U.S. government to continue offering its Creative Cloud services, including Photoshop and Illustrator, to customers in Venezuela, according to a new announcement posted to Adobe’s website. The company had previously announced that it would be forced to delete the accounts of all users in Venezuela because of an executive order by U.S. President Donald Trump against doing business in the country.
Earlier this month, Adobe announced that it would be forced to delete all user accounts for customers in Venezuela by October 28 to comply with Donald Trump’s Executive Order 13884. Adobe said at the time that users wouldn’t even receive refunds, which the company said would be against U.S. law. But Adobe has been granted a special waiver, perhaps because it’s not clear how a ban on Adobe products in the country would advance U.S. interests.
“After discussions with the US government, we’ve been granted a licence to provide all of our Digital Media products and services in Venezuela,” Chris Hall, vice president and general manager of customer experience at Adobe, said in a statement published Monday.
“With this update, we’re sharing that users can continue to access the Creative Cloud and Document Cloud portfolio, and all of their content, as they did before. If you lost access to premium services, they will be restored within a week.”
The announcement comes on the heels of a new report from Friday that sensitive user information on 7.5 million Adobe Creative Cloud accounts had been compromised. Passwords weren’t included in the breach, but hackers obtained member IDs and subscription information that would be useful in a spearphishing attack.
“In the subsequent weeks since the announcement, we heard directly from you, our users in Venezuela, about your passion for the work that you do,” Hall said. “You shared stories of how important our products are in your ability to create, and what it means to build amazing digital experiences through each and every one of our products.”