Instagram is a magical place for beautiful feeds & daily inspiration. Instagram is most definitely the spot to be if you're a blogger! During my Europe trip, I shared photos like there was no tomorrow. My sister took a look at my feed & she pointed out that one of my photos nearly gave my home address. At first I dismissed her; I told her I would never add my home address to my photo map, only something cool like Paris or a place I really want to share.
Then she showed me. The photo genuinely mapped itself just a few streets away from my house. I never added that geotag. In horror, I asked her how that was possible. Instagram maps your location. Although, the policy has since changed. But here's what used to happen: For example, say you're sitting at home & post a picture of San Francisco from when you visited last month. You tag the restaurant you were eating in. The photo on your feed says it's at the restaurant in San Francisco but the actual location on your map shows exactly where you were when you tagged it, not San Francisco. Perhaps you were at your house or going for a walk near your house. That's what happened to me.
Then she showed me. The photo genuinely mapped itself just a few streets away from my house. I never added that geotag. In horror, I asked her how that was possible. Instagram maps your location. Although, the policy has since changed. But here's what used to happen: For example, say you're sitting at home & post a picture of San Francisco from when you visited last month. You tag the restaurant you were eating in. The photo on your feed says it's at the restaurant in San Francisco but the actual location on your map shows exactly where you were when you tagged it, not San Francisco. Perhaps you were at your house or going for a walk near your house. That's what happened to me.
I just tried this out again, but the policy has since changed. Thankfully. The photo showed up exactly as I tagged it; it said I was in Amsterdam & located itself there. Take note: your photo location is visible outside of your photo map. Photos tagged with a location will also show up on that location's page, & the location name will be visible on the photo's share URL.
In addition to that, the locations of your photos can also be seen on some third-party services that use Instagram's application programming interface (API). This information comes directly from the Photo Map section of the Instagram Help Center. You may want to double check your old photos to see where your location is tracked. I obviously wasn't aware of this & I removed some of the tagged locations. Here's how to do it:
In addition to that, the locations of your photos can also be seen on some third-party services that use Instagram's application programming interface (API). This information comes directly from the Photo Map section of the Instagram Help Center. You may want to double check your old photos to see where your location is tracked. I obviously wasn't aware of this & I removed some of the tagged locations. Here's how to do it:
1. Go to your Instagram profile. Click on the little location marker tab.
2. Take a look at the places that your location has been tagged. Zone in on anything specific you want to remove.
3. Tap the edit button in the top right corner. Then tap the photo or group of photos you'd like to remove the location from & tap edit.
4. You can choose select all, deselect all, or you can choose to remove any photo. Confirm that you'd like to remove the geotag.
And there you have it. Is Instagram mapping your location? Check your locations & let me know what you find. I am really happy my sister pointed out the geotags to me or else who knows what kind of stalker could find me & my exact whereabouts! Did Instagram tag you somewhere you never explicitly tagged yourself in? Was this helpful? Please let me know! :]
You may be interested in reading more from my Social Media Basics series:
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I found this out a few months ago, and it totally freaked me out!!! It's so creepy to think people can find out every aspect of your life....especially where you live!!! I think its wonderful that you shared this post! Lots of people have no idea about the geotag!! Geat post girly! <3
ReplyDeletexx Olivia
www.hellooliviablog.com
You're right Olivia! Many don't even know about the geotag & Instagram's location tracking!
DeleteThanks a million for sharing this! It's kind of scary to know this is happening without us even realizing it.
ReplyDeleteJust trying to bring awareness :]
DeleteAh! I'm going to have to take a look at this, that's freaky... in the off-chance you get a creepy stalker.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much! :)
www.lindseyginge.com
It can happen! EEk!
DeleteI have heard and read about this - and how creepy this is. Thanks for sharing this reminder, girl. I am double-checking my IG history now.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, thanks for a lovely comment on my blog.
Let's stay in touch:
https://www.bloglovin.com/blogs/miel-mint-14349829
http://mielandmint.blogspot.co.uk/
xox Nadia
Hopefully your address wasn't on there. :]
DeleteThat is scary stuff! Thanks for making this post. Going to check.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.averysweetblog.com/
Thanks! :]
DeleteAh so good to know! I haven't checked to see if it's been mapping my location. I'm off to check that now! Thank you for visiting my blog! :)
ReplyDelete~Carissa
http://classicallycarissa.com
Hope all is well, Carissa. :]
DeleteAhh so frightening. Thanks for sharing this!
ReplyDeleteEnclothed Cognition
I had no idea about this, it's quite scary! I didn't even know that photos could be automatically located without me tagging the location… I had a few photos like that so thanks a lot for sharing this!! x
ReplyDeleteYep & that's where the problem lies!! Glad this helped. :]
DeleteAww sooo lovely photos! Love it! :)
ReplyDeletewww.lenparent.com
Hey Len! Perhaps you should read the post if you have Instagram :p
DeleteEeeek! Thank you for sharing this!
ReplyDeleteThank you SO much for posting this Carmen! I just checked my Instagram to see if it was mapping my location, and I had the same problem as you! Thanks for the step by step instructions to delete photo locations...I know I would have never been able to figure it out by myself! Definitely will be sharing this with my friends!
ReplyDeletexx Chrystin
http://amateandarottweiler.blogspot.com.ar/
Phew. Glad you were able to catch & delete the location, Chrystin! :]
DeleteThanks so the tips! I have noticed mine has done that as well, such a strange thing with geo tagging. Luckily mine has never been from close my house!
ReplyDeletexx
Garland Girl
That's good! :]
DeleteSo good to know, thanks for sharing. Deleting locations will def come in handy ;)
ReplyDeleteHandy & safe :]
DeleteThanks for sharing! I don't know how it comes Instagram even lets this happen... I mean, come on it probably only causes trouble. I'd rather just set my location manually...
ReplyDeletehttp://www sallymeredith.co.vu/
You'd think so. That's why they changed it. I'm sure there have been lots of problems!!
Delete:o I've never heard of this before!! Thanks for sharing it with us!! Im always posting from my home so now I've gotta make sure I delete all the locations.
ReplyDeleteBCfactor Blog
Definitely go through your photo map & photos to check! :]
DeleteOh God yes I knew about this and it's annoying. All apps try to spy you out in one way or the other cus they all belong to Google or Facebook or other big Silicon Valley companies.
ReplyDeleteIt's actually a great idea of you to blog about it and inform people who didn' tknow, I think you did a good job!
Bad Taste Toast - A German/Australian Style Blog
Yeah most apps use location services, but people just need to be aware of what's going on! :]
DeleteOh, I didn't know that! Thanks for sharing, really creepy.
ReplyDeleteNati xx
wwwsimplyartdicted.com
Never knew this.. How scary, thanks for sharing! Xxx
ReplyDeletesophiejc.blogspot.co.uk
I remember hearing something similar a couple of months ago and it fraked me out! I don't tend to geotag my photos but I'll definitely remember this when I do it. Thank you so much for sharing this useful information, Carmen!
ReplyDeletexx
http://www.stylebydeb.com
That's good Deb! Stay safe. :]
DeleteI didn't even know people could see my location unless I tagged it, will go through my instagram tomorrow! xx
ReplyDeleteKinkx.blogspot.com
If you tagged a location , it showed up from where you tagged it. Definitely check your locations! :]
DeleteThanks for sharing this!!! Had no idea that happened. Went back and checked my instagram. You are awesome carmen!! :)
ReplyDeleteYay! So happy this helped you. :]
DeleteYeah I'm not on Instagram anymore, but since they're FB owned I can see how their location mapping feature may be a bit tricky at times. Facebook just has a lot of privacy invasion issues in their company overall. It's cool to seem them updating things though, and yessss to you for sharing this!
ReplyDeleteZ · HELLOZAUNI.COM
Yes, privacy issues galore!
DeleteWow such a great post! I really had no idea that people could see the location! Does it also work on Android phones? Thanks for sharing babe!! xo
ReplyDeleteVivian
http://twoward.com
If your location services are on, then it doesn't matter what phone you use. Definitely check your locations on Insta! :]
DeleteThat's a bit terrifying! I'm glad the policy has changed. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteAmber | y a c h t s m a a n
Terrifying indeed!! >.<
DeleteOh man, thank you for sharing this. It was probably just an IG glitch and I'm glad it's fixed now, but I am for real going to go back and check my locations. No one on IG needs to know where I live!
ReplyDeletehttp://aroseisinbloom.blogspot.com/
Yeah, nobody random needs to know private information like that!
Deleteohhh I didn't realize IG knows where I am posting from.... that sounds dangerous.... I mean everybody can learn where I live?? That's not good at all! Thanks for sharing and letting us know!
ReplyDeletehttp://stylesprinter.com/
Not good at all. Check your photo map!
DeleteThis is very thought provoking, I'll have to check the places that I've been tagged in!
ReplyDeleteSuze | LuxuryColumnist
Hopefully there's nothing, but at least you can remove the geotags. :]
DeleteOh my god, thank you for writing this. I had loads of photos that had been geotagged to basically my address and I never tag places! I've removed them all, but I would never have known without reading your post, so thank you!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this tip!
ReplyDeleteI've noticed it did that to me once or twice in the past as well, so now I'm extra careful, always checking back and forth to see if it ever geotagged my own address!
Your post was super helpful! :)
xo, elizabeth t.
https://clothestoyouuu.wordpress.com/
I knew about this feature but never worried about anyone stalking me...should I? I guess I can remove the ones that are closer to my home...but I actually like looking at that world map and seeing exactly where I've posted!
ReplyDeleteCharacters & Carry-ons
Oh my gosh, I did not know this! Thanks for the tips on removing the tags. I've gone through my photos and untagged several of them as they were tagged right on my house!
ReplyDelete