PBA Reporter
The Instagram management has debunked that viral claims suggesting location tags on content can reveal users’ exact locations are false.
The viral posts and videos have claimed a “precise location” toggle in app location settings on iOS and Android devices could share someone’s exact location with other Instagram users.
According to the pro-picture PR team, InstagramComms: “To be clear, we don’t share your location with others. Similar to other social media companies, we use precise location for things like location tags and maps features.”
“For instance, users with precise location switched on will see options for locations nearer to them when trying to add a geotag to an Instagram Story or post,” the IG team said.
The Head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, also corroborated that location services are a device setting on phones and not a new Instagram feature.
“We don’t share your location with other people,” he added.
The ‘precise location’ setting was first revealed to iPhone and iOS device users in Apple’s annual operating system update, iOS 14, in 2020. It was rolled out by Google for Android 12 in 2021.
It gives users the option to provide some apps with a more accurate location.
While now viewed by some as a controversial feature, it was praised when it was first released as a way to improve user privacy on mobile devices because it offers an alternative to the blanket application of location services.
The setting is automatically enabled for users on apps given permission to access their location.
For apps where precise location is turned off, only an approximate location will be identified and used.
When turned on in an app’s location settings, it gives them permission to pinpoint an exact location using GPS for certain purposes, typically for travel or collecting background and private user data.
Note that its usage differs from app to app. For instance, while Uber might use it to pinpoint your location when booking a ride, on Snapchat, it is harnessed for Snap Map – where users can show their location on a map to other users if they have given the app permission or are not in private “ghost mode”.
So what’s the fuss exactly? Some of the viral posts said that due to a new iOS or Instagram update, people can find your exact location when sharing your location on posts or Stories. They also claimed that if users were to post a general location of a city, people would still be able to see exactly where you are as a pin on a map.
They went on to say this feature is being used by criminals to target people, particularly influencers, online.
The claims spread as infographics, viral TikToks and memes – with some urging users to turn precise location off for Instagram immediately.
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