Instagram's new security feature makes it easier to block apps from your account
Instagram is once again beefing up its security.
The app will add a new feature that makes it easier for people to control which third-party apps have access to their account and what information is shared with them, the company announced. The feature will launch "gradually over the next six months."
With the change, Instagram is introducing Facebook-like controls for apps that request access to your account. The first time you use one of these apps (Instagram says a common use case is photo-printing apps that prompt you to first import images from your account), you'll see an authorization screen that lets you know exactly what information the app is requesting.
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The format should look familiar to anyone who has used "Log In with Facebook" — it provides a brief overview of what the app is asking for.
Additionally, Instagram is making it easier to view how many apps you've previously authorized and remove them from your account. In the app's main settings menu, there will be a new "Apps and Websites" menu in the Security section, where you can see when an app was connected and remove it from your account.
Instagram's update comes amid a wider crackdown on third-party apps at Facebook. Last month, the social network revealed that it had removed "tens of thousands" of apps from its platform for breaking its rules, as a result of its investigations following the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
Third-party services have also posed problems for Instagram in the past. Hackers have successfully impersonated analytics services in order to hijack high-profile accounts and one of the company's "preferred marketing partners" was caught scraping location data from millions of users.
Karissa was Mashable's Senior Tech Reporter, and is based in San Francisco. She covers social media platforms, Silicon Valley, and the many ways technology is changing our lives. Her work has also appeared in Wired, Macworld, Popular Mechanics, and The Wirecutter. In her free time, she enjoys snowboarding and watching too many cat videos on Instagram. Follow her on Twitter @karissabe.
