Imagine a morning you wake up to your usual cappuccino with macaron opening your Instagram to check for a new post from Rihanna and – bang! Your account’s been hacked! Someone’s already sent your hottest photos to your boss and wrote your best friend she’s a stupid cow. What a nightmare!
The good news is it’s quite easy to protect yourself and still not to turn into a paranoid sourpuss. Here are some tips both for iOS and Android and a bit more.
Create a private account
If you use your account mainly for following pop stars or friends, the simplest thing to do will be to turn it to a private place. So that only your followers will be able to see and like your photos.
ON MOBILE
- Tap on Profile (icon on the lower-right corner of the screen). Select Settings by swiping to the left.
- Choose Privacy and Security – > Account Privacy
- Turn on Private Account
ON YOUR BROWSER
- In the upper-right corner, click on the Profile icon, select the gear icon.
- Choose Privacy and Security -> Account Privacy
- Turn on Private Account.
Now only your followers can see what you’re posting. If one wants to enjoy your photos or stories, he or she has to send a follow request to you so that you accept it. But what if you’re a local celebrity or doing an Insta-business?
Ban annoying Followers
We all know that people can use special services to buy new followers and likes. They can be spammy and harm your account. Use only the best Instagram followers service to protect your profile from such bad quality users. If you don’t want to see someone as a follower (e.g. being rude or stalking), you can block him or her from seeing and commenting on your posts. They even won’t be aware of it, ha!
ON MOBILE
- Tap the Followers icon at the top of the screen.
- Choose the follower to ban.
- Tap the three horizontal dots next to the name (for iOS) or the three vertical dots (for Android), then select ‘Remove.’
ON YOUR BROWSER
- Profile icon -> Followers
- Choose the follower to ban.
- Click on that person’s icon, then on the three horizontal dots to the right of the name. Chose ‘Block this user.’
TURN ON TWO-FACTOR AUTHENTICATION
The easiest thing to prevent hacking your account is to turn on two-factor authentication. Any time you want to log in on a new device, you’ll receive a text message with an authentication code you’ll have to type to complete logging in.
ON MOBILE
- Profile->Settings -> Privacy and Security -> Two-Factor Authentication -> Get Started
- Choose ‘Text Message’ or ‘Authentication App’ if you have or want to install one.
ON YOUR BROWSER
- Click on the Profile icon, then choose the gear icon.
- Privacy and Security -> Edit Two-Factor Authentication Setting
- Turn on ‘Text Message.’ If you have an authentication app, you can check the ‘Use Authentication App.’ If not, it will be grayed out.
Protect your personal data from unauthorized apps
You know all those apps are doing everything on earth, from changing your face to a kitty to scheduling posts. And all of them ask you for your personal info without telling you where they forward this info. So think twice before letting them know anything about you! Be aware of unauthorized apps
- Log in to Instagram on a browser on a phone or PC, and choose the Profile icon on the upper-right corner of the screen.
- Choose the gear icon.
- Choose ‘Authorized Apps’ on the left-hand menu. Here are the apps that already having access to your Instagram.
- Choose ‘Revoke Access’ for every app you want to, then click or tap ‘Yes.’
CHECK IF YOUR ACCOUNT IS HACKED
If you’re afraid your worst nightmare might come true, you can just check if it is so by simply watching through the last activity on your account.
- Settings -> Privacy and Security -> Access Data (for the mobile app) or Profile -> Gear icon -> Privacy and Security -> View Account Data.
- You’ll see the page with the info about the last actions on your account, including password changes, logins, and logouts, etc.
- If you see something you don’t remember you’ve done, it may be that someone else pretends to be you on Instagram. Or you just drunk too much last week. Anyhow, you’d better change your password for something stronger.
MASK YOUR PERSONAL DATA
Devil’s in the details, so make sure you don’t give away your personal info like your real name(s), location, or birthday (which is often used as a pin code). If yes, change them.
- Profile -> Edit Your Profile -> enter a new name and tap ‘Done’ (or click the checkmark button on the browser)
- Profile-> tap your current picture->change it to something that doesn’t look like an ID photo
- Stop adding locations to your photos
- Don’t post photos where one can see your ID card, house number, or any other personal info
