this post was submitted on 09 Nov 2023

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Privacy

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Meta payment message (iusearchlinux.fyi)

submitted 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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So I got the message from instagram about either paying or using it free (at the cost personalised ads) just now.

1000010454

Doesn't this go against the GDPR? Either way, is there a FOSS alternative for instagram like piped is to youtube? It seems like a good opportunity to stop using the official app, even though it would be better to not use instagram at all (sadly not an option for me right now).

Any suggestions, and if so, are there any that provide functionality for: stories, posts, dms? Those are the 3 things I use instagram for.

Many thanks!

Edit: For messaging I do use beeper, though some media like carousels and posts sent to my dms cant be shown in there, so for those cases I open the official app.

Edit 2: many people have suggested pixelfed. Ive heard of it, and want to use it, but unfortunately the only reason Im still sticking with instagram is because I have very dear friends who would never change to anything non-mainstream. Theyre important enough that im willing to not delete it just yet, but I dont want to agree to either pay or pay with my data.

What im looking for is more like a piped for youtube, thing. So a frintend that has instagram content/features, but isnt the main app and avoids the problems I listed above

Edit 3: I ended up installing the site as a PWA on my phone as thats the only device I use it on, and uninstalled the official app. Thanks to everyone for all your input!

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 10 months ago

Before I suggest this, I'm not 100% how private and secure this is, but AeroInsta doesn't show any ads and promises not to send cookies and any of your data across.

You can download APK from here

[–] [email protected] 6 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Wait, so it's either targeted ads or pay? Damn... Silly me thinking if you don't pay you still could opt out of targeted ads.

But yeah, isn't this against GDPR?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Nope, the GDPR allows data collection as long as the user explicits concents to it, and it doesn't say services can't be fee based. It's not a workaround.

Better question is why is a privacy advocate using a platform owned by Meta in the first place.

Plus, although still stupid, you could simply connect from a US IP address, and since people that care about privacy already have VPNs, pretty trivial to do.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago

Have you tried the options?I proceeded to checkout where it told me the price would stay that u til maj, where it would double because I have two accounts (Facebook and 2 xInstagram)

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

It seems like a nice idea that they offer a paid option for an ad free internet

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago

As far as I understand, this subscription "option" comes from a couple EU member state data protection agencies saying that the "choice" between give up all your personal information or don't use the service isn't good enough.

It remains to be seen if give up all your personal information or pay and still give up all your personal information will be accepted by those and other regulators. I can't imagine it will be.

Also fun fact, it costs more on the mobile apps as Meta passes the Play Store/App Store fees onto the end user.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago (5 children)

You can still use Instagram on your browser, without being shown the banner. Works for me with Firefox on Android.

If you do decide to opt for the subscription (I hope you don't) do it from your desktop browser since it costs 10€ instead of 12.99€. I haven't tried it myself, but that's what I read on a German website.

I still need to use the app to stay in touch with some friends and to get updates from smaller organizations that do not have a Web presence or newsletter.

I uninstalled Instagram when I was shown the banner. Not out of principle but I simply don't know which action would send the right signal. By continuing to use the app for free I would be sending the signal that I do not care about my privacy.

So do I pay for the subscription? I read somewhere elsewhere Meta makes more than that off me using targeted ads. So by subscribing do i still get to use the service and they make less money off me? There's no guarantee they honor the no tracking even if I pay.

So I've just uninstalled the app for now.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

The greed of these people is astounding

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

Its sad that most people are numb to it, and actually completely unaware/uncaring. They just click that they want to continue using it for free, which is exactly what mera wants

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

What is your issue exactly here? The fact that this could go against the GDPR? If that's the case, I don't see how a third party client would help. IG would still collect info about you and show you ads. Also, you would probably get the same popup asking if you want to subscribe. Nothing would change (except that with a third party client IG would not be able to collect as much info about you as with the official app)

Anyways, you still have the option to not pay and keep using IG as before. Nothing changes.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago (2 children)

I dont think so (correct me if im wrong). An alternative app might have access to the content etc and get around this paywall somehow.

Anyways, you still have the option to not pay and keep using IG as before. Nothing changes.

As fir my issue with this, im in the privacy community...need i say more? XD

[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago (1 children)

The only thing a third party app can do is keep phone based activity private. If you have to ping a server to do something, that point becomes their data.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

This. Also, third part clients are usually just web wrappers for the actual official site

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago

im in the privacy community

What are you doing using instagram if you care about privacy? If you're there for friends, then privacy probably isn't that important enough to you to quit insta. What do you do on insta anyway? Aren't your friends on WhatsApp too? What's the point of Insta?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago (2 children)

"Your info won't be used for ads". Does that also mean that they won't collect any info about you? Theoretically, they don't have any reason to collect data anymore because you pay them.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago

But others will pay for your data. They’ll collect it all anyway. Even if anonymized, it’s still valuable.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Hermit app make PWAs a realistic alternative

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

instander

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Is there an open source alternative?

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

Wouldn't they just skirt the technicalities with just showing targeted sponsorships anyways?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

AFAIK nothing changes. You can still turn off personalized ads in the privacy settings. I believe that nothing changed.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

No but try MyInsta

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