Your Private Instagram Posts And Stories Might Not Be So Private

The reason some people set their Instagram accounts to private is because they don’t want any random stranger to view their posts. The only way you can view a private account is if the owner grants you access to it, or at least that’s how it was supposed to be. According to a recent discovery by BuzzFeed News, it turns out your private Instagram posts might not be so private after all.

According to their findings, it seems that by browsing an Instagram profile on the web and inspecting the website’s source code, you can actually find the URL of the image that is on the account, from which you can then share it with others. This means that if you are following the private account, you can find the source code and link that image or video to others who can then see it, even if they aren’t following that account.

When BuzzFeed News reached out to Facebook (who owns Instagram), the company seemed to suggest that this wasn’t really a bug and hinted that there was really not much they could do about it. In a statement made by a Facebook spokesperson, “The behavior described here is the same as taking a screenshot of a friend’s photo on Facebook and Instagram and sharing it with other people. It doesn’t give people access to a person’s private account.”

We suppose they do have a point, but it’s something to take note of if you do have a private account.

Tyler Lee
Categories: General
Tags: Instagram, Privacy