Many Internet users are warning of a recent update to Instagram, which would allow the social network to reveal your location to other users despite you. Be careful, because this is false information!

Many Internet users are warning of a recent update to Instagram, which would allow the social network to reveal your location to other users despite you. Be careful, because this is false information!

Over the past few days, you may have noticed posts on social media warning you about the latest Instagram update on iOS. It would allow the platform to share your exact location to all users – friends, followers, but also strangers – without your consent. Everyone would know in time exactly where you are. Something to worry about, especially since the use of our personal data by social networks is relatively vague – and some people use the information published to rob or harass. This assertion has been relayed by many English-speaking but also French accounts, some of which have a large audience – some posts have accumulated nearly 200,000 “likes”. But, as often, this is false information, born of a misinterpretation of an already existing function.

Instagram: no geolocation shared without consent

This fake news was relayed on Instagram, but also Facebook, Twitter or even TikTok. Indeed, like many social networks or applications – Facebook, Waze, Google Maps, etc. – Instagram asks for your permission to locate you. Data that allows it to offer you to mention a place in a photo or video – but only if you decide – or to suggest “local” publications, which are related to places you frequent – ​​restaurant, clothing store , exhibition… Recently, Instagram launched an interactive map intended to find interesting places thanks to the publications of other users.

“To be clear, we don’t share your location with others. Like other social media companies, we use precise location for things like location tags and map features. Users can manage location services through their device settings and mark locations on their posts if they wish to share this information,” indicates the platform on Twitter. No worries therefore.

A misinterpretation of a function to protect his privacy

But then, where does this false information come from? It would simply be a misinterpretation of a function that has been available on Instagram… for quite a while. Indeed, since 2020 for iOS and 2021 for Android, Instagram has offered a function to allow users to better protect and control their privacy. They can, if they want, deactivate access to the “exact location” in the settings of their smartphone, without completely cutting off geolocation – Instagram now only has an approximate geographical area. The location tag on posts is always available to the user. But in all cases, the user remains in control of making his position known to others or not.

Posts that share this false information urge disabling this “exact location” option. This advice is not bad for skincare – on the contrary – but you still have to do it for the right reasons.