Why has my account been restricted for data scraping and what can I do?
Your account may have been restricted and flagged for further review because we may have detected activity that goes against our Terms of Use for accessing and collecting information in unauthorized ways, commonly known as data scraping.
What is data scraping?
Data scraping is the automated access and collection of data from a website or app. Unauthorized scraping involves automation to collect information in violation of our Terms of Service. Unauthorized scraping is often done in a way that disguises the activity so that it blends in with ordinary usage.
Our Terms of Use don’t allow you to attempt to create accounts, access or collect information in unauthorized ways. We have teams dedicated to detecting, investigating and blocking patterns of behavior associated with scraping
There are several reasons our systems might detect suspicious behavior like data scraping from your Instagram account, such as:
- Your account is automating access to, or collecting information in an automated way without our permission.
- You may have provided your username and password to a third-party app or website (like apps that offer likes or followers on Instagram).
- You used an app or service to interact with Instagram in unauthorized ways.
What can I do to protect myself from unauthorized scraping?
Because scrapers often target data that’s public, it's important to make sure that your Instagram privacy settings align with what you want to share publicly. By default, your Instagram account is public and you can choose to make your account private at any time.
If you’re able to log into your account, there are several steps you can take to help make your account more secure, like:
- Check your account’s recent login activity and remove any recent logins you don’t recognize.
- Be careful before giving third party apps or websites access to your Instagram account. You can remove a suspicious third party app’s access to your account at any time.
- Change your password whenever you see suspicious activity on your account. Doing so will log you out of all logged in devices, including any suspicious logins.
- Pick a strong password. Use a combination of at least six numbers, letters and special characters (like !$@%), and try to avoid repetition.
- Turn on two-factor authentication for additional account security.
- Check your information on the independent website Have I been pwned to help you review your possible exposure in other data incidents. Learn more about the Have I been pwned website and its founders.
- Learn more helpful tips about how to generally protect your information online on the Online security page provided by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
Other ways to protect your information:
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