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Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri and his social media team have refuted claims that their app tracks location data and shares it with followers looking for your exact location, the photo and video sharing platform.
According to GSM Arena, the viral post claimed that a “recent iOS update” allowed “people to now find your exact location from Instagram.” This has prompted several people to go into their phone’s Instagram app settings and disable location permissions for the app.
Instagram’s Twitter Comms posted a viral post clarifying what Instagram’s location data policies are. They wrote: “People can manage location services through their device settings and tag locations in their posts if they want to share this information.”
In another tweet, they added: “To be clear, we do not share your location with others. Like other social media companies, we use precise location for things like location markers and map features.”
In addition, Mosseri explained that Instagram’s device location powers location tagging features, but the app does not detect a user’s location with other people.
A viral Instagram post isn’t always the best place to find reliable information, verifying that information is vital. The original post never mentioned whether Instagram was doing such a location feature, instead referring to a “recent iOS update” without justification, according to GSM Arena.
