Instagram’s Latest Feature Has Users Freaking Out Over Privacy Concerns

Privacy advocates are sounding the alarm over Instagram’s new location-sharing feature, warning that it could expose sensitive user data and create safety risks.

The Meta-owned platform announced Monday it is rolling out an interactive map allowing users to share their last active location with selected friends, according to an Instagram press release. The company said location sharing is “off unless you opt in,” is customizable to exclude certain people or places and can be turned off at any time. Parents with supervision controls will be notified if their teen begins sharing their location, the release states. (RELATED: US Surgeon General Suggests Age Restrictions For Social Media)

🚨💻 #TechToday | #Instagram has officially rolled out a series of new features aimed at making the platform feel more social and interactive again. These include a long-awaited Repost button, a location-sharing map, and a new Friends tab in #Reels.

➡️ The updates, which… pic.twitter.com/SGpN6ng6Sv

— Business Today (@business_today) August 7, 2025

Instagram said the tool is designed to “help you and your friends connect” by letting users see location-tagged content from friends and creators in “interesting or fun locations.” Location data updates whenever the social media app is opened or brought back from the background, the press release stated.

Critics, however, say that’s exactly the problem.

“Meta has a poor track record when it comes to data privacy,” Lia Haberman, author of the social media newsletter ICYMI, told NBC News.

“User data is Meta’s golden goose, it’s what they’ve been able to sell to advertisers for years — mostly ethically and legally but not always,” she added.

Haberman also told NBC she is concerned users “won’t realize the full extent” of the access they’ve granted Instagram, noting that location can also be revealed by tagging posts or simply opening the app.

Democratic and Republican officials raised concerns when the map was proposed in 2024.

“Instagram is reportedly developing a ‘Friend Map’ feature, similar to Snapchat’s Snap Map,” Republican Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn stated on X in March 2024. “We should be doing all we can to protect our kids’ safety on social media — not exposing their real-time location to pedophiles and traffickers.”

Instagram is reportedly developing a “Friend Map” feature, similar to Snapchat’s Snap Map.

We should be doing all we can to protect our kids’ safety on social media — not exposing their real-time location to pedophiles and traffickers.

— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) March 1, 2024

Instagram head Adam Mosseri defended the feature in a Threads post, saying he uses the map to share with “a handful of my closest friends” and carefully curates that list.

The feature is rolling out in the U.S. now, alongside a repost option for public Reels and posts, and a new “Friends” tab in Reels to view and discuss content friends have engaged with, according to the press release.

Meta has not responded to the Daily Caller’s request for comment as of publication.

A spokesperson told NBC News the feature “is off by default, and your live location is never shared unless you choose to turn it on. If you do, only people you follow back — or a private, custom list you select — can see your location.”