Instagram's new location sharing feature raises privacy concerns

A new feature on Instagram is causing many users to worry about the risk of personal information being leaked, after the social network owned by Meta added a “location sharing” option on the map.

A new feature on Instagram is making many users worry about the risk of exposing personal information, after the social network owned by Meta added the option to "share location" on the map similar to the Snapchat app.

Launched on August 6, this feature allows users to share their location via Instagram map so that friends can easily connect and share “interesting places”. However, many people were surprised to discover that their location was displayed without them knowing.

Reality TV personality “The Bachelor” Kelley Flanagan posted a warning video on her TikTok account with 300,000 followers, calling Instagram’s new location-sharing feature “dangerous” and giving instructions on how to turn it off.

The post quickly received a lot of feedback, with user Lindsey Bell writing on Instagram that the feature had been turned on on her account and her home address was visible to all her followers.

Instagram director Adam Mosseri later confirmed on the Threads app that location sharing is “off by default” and only works when users actively turn it on, and can limit the group of people who can see it.

Meta says users can choose to share with or turn it off at any time.

However, the wave of suspicion erupted just a week after a federal jury in San Francisco (USA) sided with a group of women suing Meta for allegedly exploiting sensitive health data from the Flo app, which specializes in tracking menstrual cycles and pregnancy planning, to target advertising.

According to the law firm representing the plaintiffs, evidence presented at trial showed that Meta knew it was receiving this data and that some employees even mocked the content of the information.

The lawyer representing the case said that the case is not only about data, but also about “dignity, trust and responsibility”. The amount of compensation will be determined later./.

(Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/tinh-nang-chia-se-vi-tri-moi-cua-instagram-gay-lo-ngai-ve-quyen-rieng-tu-post1054712.vnp