ALABAMA ATTORNEY GENERAL JOINS CALL FOR INSTAGRAM TO STRENGTHEN LOCATION
PRIVACY PROTECTIONS
(Montgomery, Ala) – Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall joined a
coalition of 37 attorneys general in urging Instagram to make immediate
changes to its newly implemented location-sharing feature.
In a letter to Instagram Head Adam Mosseri, the attorneys general
outlined serious public safety and data privacy concerns about the
change, which allows users’ precise locations to be displayed on a
map. The coalition emphasized the heightened dangers for vulnerable
users, including children and survivors of domestic violence, noting
that such tools can be exploited by predators, stalkers, and other
malicious actors.
“Location data is among the most sensitive and valuable information
collected today, and yet, it’s often carelessly shared by social media
platforms without users fully understanding the consequences. This
isn’t just about data, it’s about real people being put at real
risk. As a public servant and as a parent, I find it unacceptable that
platforms like Instagram continue to prioritize profits over the safety
and privacy of everyday Americans. It’s long past time they take
responsibility and implement serious safeguards to protect users from
harm,” stated Attorney General Steve Marshall.
The letter calls on Instagram to:
* Ensure that minors cannot enable location-sharing features.
* Send a clear alert to all adult users explaining the feature,
outlining its risks, and providing full disclosure of how Instagram will
use their location data.
* For adults who choose to opt in, provide a simple, easy-to-access
control to disable location sharing at any time.
The attorneys general stressed that Meta and Instagram must prioritize
user safety over product novelty, and that implementing these measures
will protect user privacy while allowing informed adults to choose
whether to share their location.
The full letter is available here [2].
