Now, get paid for finding apps which abuse Instagram data
Though Instagram hasn't had as many privacy-related debacles as Facebook (its parent company), the photo-sharing giant is leaving no room for error. The company has launched a bug bounty program, calling experts, security researchers, and users of the service to find instances of data abuse and get rewarded in return. Here's all you need to know about it.
Last year, after the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Facebook introduced a bug bounty program that rewarded researchers who founded cases of data abuse from app developers. Now, in a similar way, Instagram is asking researchers and users of the platform to find and report instances of unauthorized data access, mining, and storing by third-party platforms and companies.
Just like other bug bounty programs under Facebook's umbrella, this one would also get you a cash reward. However, the company hasn't clearly said how much it would pay researchers discovering a security threat. A spokesperson indicated the prize money is likely to be similar to Facebook's bug bounty rewards, which start at Rs. 1 lakh and go up to Rs. 28 lakh.
"Our goal is to help protect the information people share on Instagram and encourage security researchers to report potential abuse to us," Instagram security engineer Dan Gurfinkel said. "Just like our bug bounty program, we will reward reports based on impact and quality."
Along with this, Instagram has also announced bug bounty for a new shopping feature called 'checkout'. The capability would allow users to buy products directly from the Instagram app, without being redirected to a third-party website or service. The company claimed security researchers, participating to test the feature, will get early access to it and rewards for submitting eligible bug reports.
To note, the action from Instagram comes a week after one of its trusted marketing partners was found to be scraping user data - including locations and Stories - and building detailed profiles using a reverse-engineered program. And, that's not the only case; a few months back, more than 14 million profiles of high-profile users were found sitting openly in a publicly accessible database.
