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Instagram reportedly kept user DMs and pics long after they were deleted

You may want to think about the content you are using Instagram, as a new report suggests that the social media platform has been a little lax when it comes to clearing deleted DMs and pictures from users.

According to security researcher Saugat Pokharel, who discovered the issue after claiming a $6 000 bug bounty via the platform’s 2018 data download tool, Instagram was keeping deleted content on its servers for far longer than needed.

While it is not uncommon for platforms like this to keep deleted user data on a server for a short time before removing completely, the issue here is that Instagram was keeping the data for longer than the 90 days it has previously outlined.

Precisely how much longer is not clear, but Pokharel did inform Instagram of the issue back in October of last year, with it only recently being addressed.

“Instagram didn’t delete my data even when I deleted them from my end,” he told TechCrunch.

“The researcher reported an issue where someone’s deleted Instagram images and messages would be included in a copy of their information if they used our Download Your Information tool on Instagram. We’ve fixed the issue and have seen no evidence of abuse. We thank the researcher for reporting this issue to us,” the platform noted to the publication in response to this discovery.

Whether no abuse of the data is in fact the case, remains unclear for now, but it does go to serve that in the digital era, even the things we don’t post may be seen by others.

[Source – TechCrunch]

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