Is Instagram Wrapped real and will it expose your activity?
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1970-01-01 08:00
One of the biggest events of the year on social media is the release of Spotify Wrapped. A chance for users to have their year in music compartmentalised into fun statistics to share and compare with friends. Now, a third-party app is promising something similar for Instagram. But should you be concerned about potential data breaches? In order to reveal your end-of-year round-up on Instagram, users have been downloading the app Wrapped, which claims to show your activities on your Instagram account. Although, it is currently only available on the App Store. Wrapped claims to present an in-depth analysis of your data after you download it from Instagram yourself. This is simple to do, with users only needing to go to their profile, go to Your Activity, and select Download Your Information. Wrapped alleges that some of the data it will present you with includes how many people screenshot your posts, how many users have blocked you, and who you interacted the most with. Despite these claims, there is increasing scepticism that the results given to users are accurate. Meta - Instagram's parent company - has a strict policy against revealing any details regarding its users. And Instagram doesn't show who visited your profile. Some users who have tried the app have claimed that Wrapped shows them different figures with each attempt. "I'm 90% sure it's inaccurate," wrote one user. "I just downloaded it and every time I logged into my account and looked at the numbers, it changed. Most drastic was the number of people who have apparently blocked me which went from 1 to 2 then 12 in the span of 5 minutes. Wouldn't trust it!" Due to the requirement of sharing data from your personal Instagram account, many are worried that their data may be exposed after sharing their information with a third-party app. Wrapped's developer, Wrapped Labs, claims in their privacy policy: "For a better experience, while using our Service, we may require you to provide us with certain personally identifiable information. The information that we request will be retained by us and used as described in this privacy policy. "The app does use third-party services that may collect information used to identify you." Their policy also claims Wrapped does its best to protect user's personal information but it "cannot guarantee its absolute security." Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings. How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel

One of the biggest events of the year on social media is the release of Spotify Wrapped. A chance for users to have their year in music compartmentalised into fun statistics to share and compare with friends.

Now, a third-party app is promising something similar for Instagram. But should you be concerned about potential data breaches?

In order to reveal your end-of-year round-up on Instagram, users have been downloading the app Wrapped, which claims to show your activities on your Instagram account.

Although, it is currently only available on the App Store.

Wrapped claims to present an in-depth analysis of your data after you download it from Instagram yourself. This is simple to do, with users only needing to go to their profile, go to Your Activity, and select Download Your Information.

Wrapped alleges that some of the data it will present you with includes how many people screenshot your posts, how many users have blocked you, and who you interacted the most with.

Despite these claims, there is increasing scepticism that the results given to users are accurate. Meta - Instagram's parent company - has a strict policy against revealing any details regarding its users. And Instagram doesn't show who visited your profile.

Some users who have tried the app have claimed that Wrapped shows them different figures with each attempt.

"I'm 90% sure it's inaccurate," wrote one user. "I just downloaded it and every time I logged into my account and looked at the numbers, it changed. Most drastic was the number of people who have apparently blocked me which went from 1 to 2 then 12 in the span of 5 minutes. Wouldn't trust it!"

Due to the requirement of sharing data from your personal Instagram account, many are worried that their data may be exposed after sharing their information with a third-party app.

Wrapped's developer, Wrapped Labs, claims in their privacy policy:

"For a better experience, while using our Service, we may require you to provide us with certain personally identifiable information. The information that we request will be retained by us and used as described in this privacy policy.

"The app does use third-party services that may collect information used to identify you."

Their policy also claims Wrapped does its best to protect user's personal information but it "cannot guarantee its absolute security."

Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel

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