Irish watchdog investigates whether Instagram partner collected data from Europeans

Ireland’s privacy watchdog is investigating whether European Instagram users have been affected by a scraping case. It concerns Hyp3r, a former partner of Instagram. Hyp3r has stolen quite a bit of data, probably including data from Europeans.

The Irish Data Protection Commission has told Business Insider it has launched this investigation. The medium came out on Wednesday with the message that the San Francisco startup Hyp3r was collecting the physical locations and stories of millions of Instagram users. With that, the marketing company would have compiled detailed profiles of users’ movements and interests. Instagram has since sent Hyp3r a cease and desist letter and removed the company from the platform.

Hyp3er allegedly took advantage of a vulnerability in Instagram’s security over the past year that Facebook’s social media platform would have failed to notice. Instagram previously referred to Hyp3r as a marketing partner. Other Instagram companies or partners may have similarly engaged in user data scraping; There may be more clarity about this after the Irish watchdog has completed its investigation.

The CEO of Hyp3r previously indicated that his company simply adheres to Instagram’s privacy rules and conditions. According to him, no content or information was viewed that was not publicly available to everyone. A Hyp3r spokesperson says the company has not been contacted by the Irish watchdog and that all personally identifiable information is protected.