The Hyp3r marketing app has collected data from Instagram users without permission to discover people's interests for advertising. According to the Business Insider technology website, the app violated the social network's privacy terms by permanently storing information such as location, number of likes, and stories. Hyp3r was one of Facebook's official marketing partners to run cross-platform campaigns, and was banned from Instagram on Wednesday (7) for abusive data collection following the publication of the Business Insider report.
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It is unclear how many users had their information collected by Hyp3r, but Business Insider indicates that the company has reportedly had access to a database of hundreds of thousands of the world's most valuable consumers. In addition, it is proven that over 90% of the institution's information was obtained from Instagram.
Instagram bans marketing company that collected user data Photo: Carolina Ochsendorf / dnetc
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Hyp3r claims to have as a differential for its marketing campaigns the targeting of the potential consumer. The company tracked publicly tagged posts from places on social networks and exported data from those posts to profile customer preferences and interests. This practice results in a more defined target audience, which increases the chances of campaign success.
Instagram's API terms of use (such as using social network credentials to log in to a third party service) changed dramatically after the Facebook privacy scandal known as the "Cambridge Analytic Case." At the time, excessive access to Facebook user information helped in the development of political marketing campaigns during the US elections.
As a result, Instagram and other products have enhanced data protection, for example by preventing access to people tracking through the platform API. According to sources told Business Insider, Hyp3r breached the new privacy policies of the social network and developed a new system that would allow it to continue to collect user location information.
Facebook went through scandal that forced privacy change Photo: Elson de Souza / dnetc
In an interview with Business Insider, marketing company officials claimed that the conduct did not violate Instagram guidelines due to the platform's lack of cyber security. They also stated that it was not difficult to gain access to the data even after the change of regulation.
Instagram banned access from the Hyp3r API after contacting Business Insider: "Hyp3r's actions violated our policies. As a result, we removed them from our platform. We also made a product change that should help prevent other companies from collecting pages from public places that way. "
According to Instagram's terms, Hyp3r has broken the guidelines by permanently storing information without proper authorization. The social network allows you to save data only for the time required for the service. The company also reconfigured the API code to continue collecting the location of users, which is prohibited by Instagram.
In response to Business Insider, Instagram stated that it was unsure whether the social network would notify users hit by data collection from Hyp3r, nor could the marketing company be asked to delete the stored information.
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