| Basic information | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2010 |
| Type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Social Media |
| Official website | https://www.instagram.com/ |
Instagram is a global social-media platform and subsidiary of Meta since 2012.[1] Founded in 2010 by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, Instagram focuses on sharing photos and videos. This content can take the form of a "reel", "post", or a "story".
Reels: Short videos similar to the format popularized by TikTok.
Posts: A collection of images or videos.
Stories: A temporary post that allows photos, videos, and text.
Moreover, Instagram has a direct messaging service and a live streaming service built in.
Instagram has been scrutinized for many consumer violations revolving around the extent of its data collection[2] and the use of said data.
Consumer-protection profile
Privacy
- On signup Instagram collects details such as the user's name, email, phone number, and profile information.[3]
- Through the use of the app, Instagram collects the following:[3]
- Interactions including, likes, comments, posts, and direct messages.
- Location Data.
- Device Information.
- Usage Data.
- Content Data including metadata from photos and videos.
- Information from messages including the people the user interacts with the types of messages the user sends.
- Instagram shares data to 3rd parties including advertisers directly and through Meta.[3]
- Instagram will share data with law enforcement if legally compelled.[3]
- Instagram will analyze messages for the purpose of detecting spam, harassment, or abusive content.
- Instagram uses user data to serve targeted advertisements to the user.
Transparency
- The Instagram privacy policy states how most user data is collected and stored.
- Instagram allows users to download a copy of their Data through their front-ends.
- It is unclear how much information is collected from user to user messages.
Freedom
- Instagram messages are not end-to-end encrypted.
- Instagram as part of Meta has a forced arbitration clause in its terms of service.
- Instagram has the ability to remove content without citing a reason.
- Instagram is granted a license to use, distribute, modify, run, copy, display, and create derivative works of uploaded content.[4]
Consumer-protection incidents
Instagram allows AI to be trained on user data (Mar. 2023)
In March 2023, Instagram updated it's Terms of Service to allow them to use collected data to train artificial intelligence.[4] This data includes uploaded photos and videos and the creators were not given compensation. This new TOS was mandatory to accept to continue using the platform.