Your private Instagram profile may not hide as much as you think — here's what an investigation found
Even with a private Instagram account, a new investigation demonstrates how easily your personal information can be reconstructed.
A recent investigation by Compare the Market revealed that private Instagram profiles may not offer the level of privacy users assume. Licensed investigator Colin Crowden successfully located the home addresses of seven out of nine volunteers, despite four of them having private Instagram accounts. The fastest location was achieved in just 15 minutes, with the first lead found in 50 seconds.
The investigation also uncovered complete property plans for four volunteers, confirming one home was unoccupied during a volunteer's holiday. This highlights how seemingly harmless information, such as location tags, property details in photos, and data from other online sources, can be pieced together to build a detailed picture of someone's life.
Privacy settings alone are insufficient to protect against this cumulative exposure. The investigation recommends waiting to post holiday photos until at home, reviewing privacy settings before traveling, coordinating with friends and family to avoid inadvertent sharing, disabling automatic location tags, and periodically auditing one's digital footprint to remove potentially compromising information.
Written by urgent.news from Tom's Guide's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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