Instagram Maps is Yet Another Harmful Tech Feature
Leave it to the overwhelmingly cis white male tech industry to roll out a feature that broadcasts the current location of every user online.
Hopefully you've already heard about Instagram's new Maps feature, but I'm sharing this with you just in case, because it's creepy.
Let's get the important part taken care of: Here's how to turn off the new Maps feature.
- Go to your Instagram profile page.
- Tap the hamburger menu at the top right.
- Select Map, if it appears there. Click the gear icon or Settings.
- If you don't see Map, go down to Story, Live, and Location and select that. Then, click on Location sharing.
- Under the "Who can see your location" popup, select "No one."
- Clear your location history, while you're at it.
OKAY. Now that your exact location isn't being shared with the world, let's talk about this for a minute.
"[Instagram Maps] seems like a feature that was created by a man."
That's what my partner said when we talked about this, and he nailed it. Leave it to the overwhelmingly cis white male tech industry to roll out a feature that broadcasts the current location of every user online.
It's yet another example of the privilege of that population: only a person who has never felt unsafe because of their identity would think this is good or safe.
To add insult to injury, the message from Meta couldn't be clearer: they do not care about your privacy or your safety.
If they did, they could have rolled out this feature by giving each user the option to opt in. Instead, they turned it on for all of us without our consent--or even our knowledge.
Or better yet, someone, anyone on their product development team could have said, "hey, maybe this isn't a feature worth investing in." My cis white male partner immediately understood the potential for harm that Instagram Maps presents. It stands to reason that, if Meta staffers gave it even a little thought, they could figure it out, too.
I say this a lot, but this is another potent reminder: Meta doesn't care about our communities, and they don't deserve our trust.
Big tech needs to do better. I don't expect that they will, but putting pressure on them (and their wallets) never seems to hurt.
Speaking of which, anyone want to report a privacy violation to Instagram HQ?
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