this post was submitted on 11 Feb 2026
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Privacy

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Some of the info instagram sends when you're using the app. (lemmy.dbzer0.com)
submitted 21 hours ago by irelephant@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/privacy@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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I've recently been working on scraping the app api for instagram for a project, and I'm surprised at the amount of data it sends that it shouldn't need. I knew it did a lot of tracking already, but after looking at what it sends, I am never installing that app outside of an emulator.

When you login it sends:

  • How many sim cards you have installed
  • Whether you have whatsapp installed
  • whether you gave permission for: call logs, contacts, answer phone calls
  • Timestamps for when you opened the app and when you clicked any component.

On most requests, it sends:

  • Your connection type (WIFI/mobile data)
  • Your connection speed
  • Whether google play attestation is working
  • If your phone is foldable or not
  • Whether you have dark or light theme enabled
  • What device you are running instagram on
  • The components you clicked on to navigate to whatever page you are on, as well as timestamps for when you clicked them.

When loading your timeline, they payload contains:

  • Whether instagram has permission for your camera
  • Your battery level
  • Whether your phone is charging
  • The time you opened the app at.
  • Whether you used pull to refresh to load your feed.
  • Your volume level
  • Your timezone offset.

For every useful request it sends about 2 to /logging_client_events, which has a binary, encoded as base64 payload.

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[–] Railcar8095@lemmy.world 2 points 16 hours ago

Best is to not use Instagram.

Second best is to use Nora to see the web version and redirect the links automatically. https://f-droid.org/packages/jp.nonbili.nora/