Instagram’s Location-Sharing Map Tool Sparks Privacy Concerns Among Users

Instagram’s introduction of a geolocation feature sparked concern among users on Thursday, with some expressing apprehension about potential privacy issues.

The newly launched Instagram Map tool, designed to help users “stay connected with friends” by sharing their last active location, bears resemblance to Snapchat’s Snap Map feature. This tool allows individuals to view where their friends are posting from.

While Meta, the company behind Instagram, asserted in a blog post that location sharing is only activated with user consent, several users expressed doubts about this claim in their posts.

One user voiced concern on the platform’s micro-blogging service, Threads, stating, “I can’t believe Instagram launched a map feature that exposes everyone’s location without any warning.” Another user raised security concerns, suggesting that malicious actors could exploit the map feature for spying purposes.

A user who had a restraining order expressed particular concern, posting on Threads, “Instagram randomly updating their app to include a maps feature without actually alerting people is so incredibly dangerous…Why.”

In response to these complaints, Instagram’s CEO, Adam Mosseri, addressed the concerns on Threads, denying that the map feature is exposing users’ locations without consent. He clarified that users must explicitly opt-in to share their location and confirmed a double consent mechanism in place for such sharing.

However, some users claimed that their locations were being shared despite not choosing to use the map feature. One user reported, “Mine was set to on and shared with everyone in the app. My location settings on my phone for IG were set to never. So it was not automatically turned off for me.”

A spokesperson for Meta reaffirmed Mosseri’s statements, emphasizing that the Instagram Map is disabled by default, and a user’s live location is only shared if they actively choose to enable it. The spokesperson also clarified that only individuals who follow back the user or a custom list selected by the user can view their location when the feature is activated.