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Analysis Suggests Instagram Tracks User Web Activity Through In-App Browser
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He’s a big baby who can’t give up an ounce of control because he thinks people are too dumb to think for themselves.
Whenever you click on an external link in the Instagram app, just tap on the dots on the top right side of the screen and choose 'Open in browser' and you've left their in-app browser.
There's an easier solution: don't browse webpages from Facebook or Instagram at all.
Ever.
No, seriously -- just don't do it.
Correct, I don't have an account with any of the Meta products and still have Facebook cookies in my browser despite never visiting that site. For fun, I just deleted the Facebook cookies and they were back 10 minutes later. The only site I'm browsing is MacRumors and I have an ad-blocker installed. What does that tell us?
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Doesn't matter, I never do and still have Facebook cookies in my browser.
Zuckerberg needs to be jailed. Along with the engineers who built this.
TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️
Suspended
Not in the United States tho. Overseas, Russia or China. So he will never get out.
No; you were right. You may have missed this line in the original article:
(emphasis added for clarity)
I almost never use their app... but I use iOS quite a bit, and I suspect they didn't so much remove the option, as obfuscate it. Try looking under the "share" option, and you should find various browser options.
Of course, that still means that Facebook is tracking you on your way out the door, and likely has cookies to continue tracking you on the destination website when you get there. So, ya know.
How much more information do you all need before you delete your Meta accounts?
No surprise at all. They want all your personal info.
They FORCE in-app browser and don’t even allow to copy the link to paste elsewhere.
I think Yelp does the same thing. You can’t force touch and copy the link. No, you have to open their in-app browser. THEN you can open in Safari.
Also, Instagram in-app browser disables all the safari ad/tracking blockers.
They are terrible. 👎
They FORCE in-app browser and don’t even allow to copy the link to paste elsewhere.
I think Yelp does the same thing. You can’t force touch and copy the link. No, you have to open their in-app browser. THEN you can open in Safari.
Also, Instagram in-app browser disables all the safari ad/tracking blockers.
They are terrible. 👎
Social media probably has more personal data on U.S. politicians than does the U.S. Intelligence Community.
The EU is pro-politics, for sale to those who pay to play. They couldn't care less about actual consumer advocacy or protection. Look up how many billions the EU has "lost" or is otherwise "unaccounted for" over the years.
The app itself is sandboxed, but the ability for a browser to run code from the server is essential to what a browser does. This Meta Code is still inside the Instagram app sandbox, so it can’t reach out into your phone and steal other data or look into what type of phone you are using. All Facebook (🤦♂️ Meta) does is essentially tag your instance of Instagram with its own unique identifier, which it then uses to track you.
This is in part why Apple only allows its own browser… a browser can be greatly abused from a privacy and security perspective.
I can’t say as though I’m surprised at all. It was obvious that they deliberately weren’t using SafariWebView (which has been around for almost 7 years at this point), and it seemed pretty likely it was for nefarious purposes. I figured they were doing exactly that. That, and they wanted to lock you out of using the system share sheet so you couldn’t just shuttle that link you found on Facebook right off to Twitter or some other service. (Twitter was doing something similar for the longest time [re: the share sheet] back then, but it’s legitimately been about six years since I started to step back from Twitter, so I couldn’t tell you what dark patterns the app’s currently forcing on users.)
I only use Facebook in the browser, and in a private browsing session at that. Actually, I always use private browsing on my phone (except for MacRumors, where I use iCabMobile).
I only use Facebook in the browser, and in a private browsing session at that. Actually, I always use private browsing on my phone (except for MacRumors, where I use iCabMobile).
