What you're agreeing to

Instagram grants Meta a broad license to use your photos, videos, and likeness in ads without additional payment. You can be suspended without notice and lose all content with no right of appeal.

Privacy in plain English

Instagram collects your location, contacts, browsing behavior across the web, and infers your interests to build an advertising profile shared across Meta's platforms. It tracks your activity even when you are not using the app.

Terms of Service: Breakdown

Concerning Clauses

• - Meta can use your photos in ads shown to your friends without your explicit consent each time.
• Instagram can remove your account or any content at any time without explanation.
• You cannot sue Instagram as part of a class action in the US.

Data Sharing

• - Your behavioral data and ad profile are shared across Meta's family of apps including Facebook and WhatsApp.
• Third-party advertisers receive targeting segments built from your Instagram activity.

Known Incidents

• - 2019: Millions of Instagram user passwords were stored in plain text on Facebook servers, affecting hundreds of millions of accounts.
• 2022: Meta was fined €405 million by Irish regulators for exposing children's phone numbers and email addresses on Instagram.

Privacy Policy: Breakdown

Privacy Issues

• - Instagram collects your precise location data even when the app is running in the background.
• It reads your device's contact list and links your account to people who have your number even if you don't follow them.

Who Gets Your Data

• - Your full behavioral profile is shared with Facebook, WhatsApp, and Meta's advertising network. - Third-party apps connected to your Instagram account receive access to your messages and media.

Safer Alternatives

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