New Instagram Feature
Instagram was acquired by Facebook for approximately $1bn (£761m) in 2012 and since then, the photo-sharing platform has changed significantly over the years. Shortly afterward, both apps experienced rapid growth, and today, Instagram has around 1 billion monthly active users. In 2018, Instagram shared its intentions to test a prototype that can share your precise location history with Facebook. The option was planned to be implemented as a privacy setting that you have to opt-in to and allows Instagram to share collections of your exact GPS coordinates data. Click here to know about PVA Instagram accounts. New Instagram Feature
The geo-tagged data was to appear to users in their Facebook Profile’s Activity Log, which will include a complete history of the places you have been to. The justification given by the company for introducing this system was so that the application can help you explore exactly what’s around you, get more accurate search results and experience more relevant ads throughout the duo platforms. The discovery of the feature came a few weeks after Instagram’s co-founders resigned from the company and was followed by initial fears that Facebook will exploit the platform now that it is in sole ownership.
This possible commingling of data could upset who wants to limit Facebook’s surveillance of their lives. It further raises suspicions on Facebook wanting to squeeze advertising profit out of Instagram, be it through spamming ads, notifications, or pulling more data out of users. A Facebook spokesperson had to come forth to explain this initiative, “To confirm, we haven’t introduced updates to our location settings.
This effectively confirmed that Location History sharing is something Instagram has prototyped and is considering to launch but hasn’t officially implemented yet.
However considering the prevalence of usage of Location Tagging on Instagram, the possible introduction of this feature brings up some red flags over privacy ethics. When someone is sharing a post or story on Instagram, they are presented with an “Add Location” option.
This gives them the option to check-in at the location, just you can see on Facebook. Users are then presented with nearby locations based on their GPS location, or they can type into the “Find a location” text box to search for a location. Many users turn to Instagram for places recommendations instead of Yelp or other location review websites.
This is partly due to the interface of the app and the easily accessible pictures of appetizing food, aesthetic atmosphere, personal experiences of users and so forth. While location tagging gives a great boost to businesses and services, when the possibility of location history data being recorded and sent to partner apps is added to the mix it leads to apprehensiveness among the average users.
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Considering Facebook’s previous records of cybersecurity issues that gave hackers access to around 50 million accounts – letting them see profile info, posts, photos, videos, friends lists, and even private messages, is no wonder that this test feature was not welcomed by the large majority.
The criticism led to abandoning the geo-tag feature that was supposedly similar to Snap Maps (a controversial feature of Snapchat) and their plans of sending over location data to Facebook. While previously some of the leaked updates of Instagram such as video calling and music stories were later implemented eventually, it is suspected that the strong reaction from users that threatened to pull the audience away from apps led to Instagram quietly removing the prototype. Currently, most location records kept by Instagram are focused on login location history and tagged locations on posts and stories. These records are supposedly independent of Facebook and provide reassurance to the billions of Instagram users who use the platform daily.
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