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Instagram Tests Sharing Your Location History With Facebook (theverge.com)
Instagram is testing a feature that would allow it to share your location data with Facebook, regardless of whether you're using the app or not. Researcher Jane Manchun Wong says the option, which is being tested as a setting you have to opt-in to, allows Facebook products to "build and use a history of precise locations" which the company says "helps you explore what's around you, get more relevant ads and helps improve Facebook." The Verge reports: In a statement to TechCrunch, a spokesperson from Facebook confirmed that there was no guarantee the feature would see a wide release. "We often work on ideas that may evolve over time or ultimately not be tested or released. Instagram does not currently store Location History; we'll keep people updated with any changes to our location settings in the future."
Wong has a history of correctly identifying features like this before they're officially announced. She has previously leaked Facebook's dating application, Instagram's updated two-factor authentication, and Instagram's school bio feature. Facebook is also reportedly testing a map view to see friend's locations, similar to what's already offered by Snapchat. Instagram's data sharing could provide additional data points to power this functionality, while providing Facebook with more data to better target its ads.
Wong has a history of correctly identifying features like this before they're officially announced. She has previously leaked Facebook's dating application, Instagram's updated two-factor authentication, and Instagram's school bio feature. Facebook is also reportedly testing a map view to see friend's locations, similar to what's already offered by Snapchat. Instagram's data sharing could provide additional data points to power this functionality, while providing Facebook with more data to better target its ads.
Because Instagram and Facebook are totally different companies.
Oh. Wait...
There is nothing in this for users.
The default location sharing (only when the app is open and screen not locked) is fine, and of course can be disabled.It helps tag locations easily.
If you are paranoid, you can always disable location sharing, and still search for locations that you might want to tag.
I didn't sign up for Instagram to be deluged with marking popups. Nor for Facebook to accumulate a database of their user's whereabouts and comings and goings. Nor to create a phantom Facebook profile if I don't have a Facebook account.
You can "explore what's around you" with the current location sharing. If my phone is in my pocket, I don't want/need any "help" "exploring".
I guess this is the beginning of the end of Instagram. It will be absorbed by The Zukerborg.
... any goddam relevant ads.
It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
In my day this was called going outside. Beyond that, I am sure everyone wants more relevant ads and an improved facebuck! Really though, at this point if you are still on facebook you kind of deserve what you get.
No, not at all...
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
Wait... how the hell did Instagram get my location data?!
"helps you explore what's around you, get more relevant ads and helps improve Facebook profit."
See FB what I do in that situation is, put the damn phone back in my pocket, look up and start looking around me and pretty soon I enjoy the fun of discovering what's around me, the people and the places. Then I go back when I can and learn more. If I let you tell me what's there I only get information that others, most likely paid for advertising, is actually directing me towards. So thanks, but I'll keep it in mind for when I'm really desperate to know where the nearest McDonalds is thanks.
It is an ad-driven revenue world as there is much more profit in ads than there is in having users pay for a service. But, people are cheap and the vast majority willingly give up their location / history to save a few bucks and wouldn't pay a few bucks to keep their data private. To quote Carlin "Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that."
You and your life is the product. Your use of their platforms is just allowing them to gather more and more data which is then used to line their pockets with $$$$$$$$$.
Just say NO to Social Media or rather anti-social media.
"helps you explore what's around you, get more relevant ads and helps improve Facebook."
This is bulls**t, along with every other company that practices these so-called "We use cookies to make your experience better".
She's going past the handbags. Quick, give her a text for a 10% coupon.
Too late.
Ditching Facebook wonâ(TM)t help when everything is a âoecommunityâ and everything has social gamification added. The moment money exchanges hands youâ(TM)re now a member of a âoecommunityâ of people who also paid for the same or similar product/service. Community is a business model and society is a source of income, that is how the world works. Everything we do socially is an act, a learned set of behaviours which we were conditioned to follow and powerful actors are warping our perceptions of society to ensure we keep buying pointless crap to keep economic growth at a reasonable constant.
People wonder why thereâ(TM)s cultural hysteria with extremists popping out from every nook and cranny, well just look at how broken the mechanisms for allocating life enhancing resources really are. Being a good capitalist generally means harmfully exploiting others and generally abusing Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs while we are all being sold out by even more harmful forces offering socialism or communism.
My advice to those who want out of this mess without a lot of hassle:
Use traditional computing devices with large storage, refuse âoethe cloudâ
Download a large general purpose library of maps, books, articles and academic journals
Stock a massive cache of entertainment permanently/offline (music, novels, comics, video games, movies, shows etc)
Download Wikipedia, Wiktionary etc for offline use
If you like intoxicants then learn to grow and/or brew your own
If you like tasty food, learn to make, bake and cook your own
Stock up on loads of long lasting tinned vegetables, baked beans and UHT milk for rainy days. Try to always eat real whole food and use tap water where possible.
Always have more than one years salary saved in the bank so you can quit working up to 6 months at a time if you burn out.
Most importantly of all.... Only buy what you actually need to fulfill the above and only subscribe to the minimum number of services need to achieve it. That means Electricity, Gas, Water, Mobile Internet and possibly a VPN if necessary. When you need fresh entertainment or academic resources for personal improvement, go to your library and hammer the crap out of their Internet access for the allotted timeframe.
Why am I suggesting this? Notice how simple life is there. Notice how I havenâ(TM)t mentioned a car or a mortgage or getting a husband/wife or having kids? What if you could work just 2-3 days per week and have a very decent and healthy lifestyle with minimal complexity? A car isnâ(TM)t freedom if you donâ(TM)t have the free time to use it, so why pay for it? Think about how weâ(TM)ve all been manipulated.