Instagram has become one of the fastest-growing apps. People spend hours every day scrolling through videos and pictures.
As great as Instagram is, it’s owned by Meta. That’s the company that also owns Facebook and WhatsApp. The company has been under fire in recent years due to privacy issues.
It’s been found to share 79% of user data with third parties. Everyone should find that to be alarming.
The company rolled out new privacy settings across all its apps. What are the Instagram privacy settings that you need to know?
Read on to discover the main Instagram settings you should know to keep your data safe and secure.
Table of Contents
1. Cut the Mic
Have you ever had a phone conversation and the next time you log in to Facebook or Instagram, you see an ad about the same thing you talked about.
While Meta repeatedly denied that it listens to your conversations, there are enough stories about it that make you think twice about access.
In your phone’s settings, go to Settings -> Privacy -> Microphone. You can control the microphone permissions on both Android and iOS devices.
2. Log Off When You’re Not Using Instagram
It might seem like a major inconvenience, but logging off when you’re not using the app is a good privacy tool.
Instagram can still track your location and other data when you’re logged in. Logging out denies the app that opportunity.
3. Remain Anonymous
Did you know that people can tell when you watch their videos and stories? If you’re curious about a person or brand, you’re going to start searching for people on Instagram and look at their posts to know more about them.
You can just stick with their image posts, and they won’t know if you visited their profile or looked at their posts.
If you want to view someone’s stories without their knowledge, there are a couple of tricks you can employ.
The first is to put your phone in airplane-only mode. Instagram loads the first few stories and you can view them anonymously.
You could also have a secondary account. That can get used for competitive research or looking at other people’s profiles.
4. Read the Terms of Use
Every now and again, you get an email from Instagram saying they updated their terms of use policy. If you’re like most people you ignore it or delete it.
The terms of use contains important information regarding privacy. You’ll discover that Instagram collects information such as user behavior.
It can tell if you have a window running in the foreground or background. It collects information such as device IDs, other account information, and Bluetooth signals.
Control Your Personal Data With These Instagram Privacy Settings
You don’t always think about the data your favorite apps collect about you. You can take back control of your personal data starting with these Instagram privacy settings.
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