• Latest
  • All
  • How To
Instagram IGTV icon

Instagram Rolls out New Privacy Controls for Its Users

December 5, 2019
Infinix Note 50 Pro x Java House Collab

Infinix Teams Up with Java House to Launch Note 50 Pro Series

July 4, 2025
Instagram threads

Instagram Threads Rolls Out Direct Messaging in Major Feature Update

July 4, 2025
Infinix Hot 60i Pre-order

Infinix Hot 60i Now Available for Pre-Order in Kenya

July 4, 2025
Windows

Microsoft’s Windows Usage Slumps as Macs, Linux, and Mobile Take Over

July 4, 2025
DHgate Tablet Cases deals
Microsoft

Microsoft Slashes 9,100 Jobs in Biggest Layoffs Since 2023

July 4, 2025
NASA

NASA Brings Space Missions to Netflix at No Extra Cost

July 3, 2025
ios 26-facetime

iOS 26 May Pause Video if You Start Undressing on FaceTime

July 3, 2025
apple iphone foldable

Apple Begins Testing Its First Foldable iPhone

July 3, 2025
Mobile Data

Kenya Draws More Tourists as Mobile Data Roaming Soars

July 3, 2025
Axian Telecom Considers Full Acquisition of Jumia

Axian Telecom Is Plotting a Full Buyout of Jumia

July 3, 2025
Cable TV

Kenya’s Cable TV Market Rebounds with 31.5% Growth

July 3, 2025
Premier League and Microsoft Announce Strategic AI Partnership for Enhanced Fan Engagement

Football Meets AI as Microsoft Joins Forces with the EPL

July 3, 2025
Techweez | Tech News, Reviews, Deals, Tips and How To
  • News
  • Entertainment
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • Editorial
No Result
View All Result
Techweez | Tech News, Reviews, Deals, Tips and How To
  • News
  • Entertainment
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • Editorial
No Result
View All Result
Techweez | Tech News, Reviews, Deals, Tips and How To
No Result
View All Result

Instagram Rolls out New Privacy Controls for Its Users

George Kamau by George Kamau
December 5, 2019
in News
Reading Time: 2 mins read
264
0
Instagram IGTV icon

Instagram DM

Instagram has begun rolling out new privacy controls for its users. The giant photo-sharing platform Facebook bought in 2012 for $1 billion will now let users decide who can slide in your DMs.

Instagram will now allow users to choose options such as Everybody that allows users to receive new message requests from everyone except those that they have blocked.

Choosing Only People You Follow option makes sure you won’t receive any new message request ad story replies from people you don’t follow.

People you don’t follow and you haven’t blocked will know that you won’t accept messages from everyone. This means no more random DMs from strangers.

These options will also limit who which group threads you get added to or reply to your story.

Another thing Instagram announced is that they will begin asking users creating new accounts for their birthdays in their effort to discourage underage users. Instagram’s new terms of use now call for users to be at least 13 years of age in most countries.

This comes a day after TikTok, another rival social media app recently announced that its age limit is 18 for fan gifts to celebrities following a BBC investigation.

A day after this piece, Instagram says it will have users input their birthdays when signing up. https://t.co/IJCDxKraLe https://t.co/7GHbPaDhV5

— Sarah Frier (@sarahfrier) December 4, 2019

Instagram hopes that this move will help keep young people safer and enable more age-appropriate experiences overall.

"To protect minors, expand alcohol ads" is beautiful https://t.co/j6fl4J5VwQ

— Tom Gara (@tomgara) December 4, 2019

When you provide your birthday, other users won’t be able to view it but you’ll still see it in your personal profile information. If you connect your Facebook account to Instagram, the birthday listed on your Facebook profile is added to your Instagram profile.

Users who have already have an account on the platform will not be asked to confirm their birthdays.

This *is* a step in the right direction, but pulling birth date info from Facebook dives into the "one true identity" Zuckerberg philosophy a lot further than Instagram has before.

And, yes, like all social media platforms, nothing stops kids simply lying about their age. https://t.co/TiODqOLWBW

— Tama Leaver ➡️ @[email protected] (@tamaleaver) December 4, 2019

Instagram is also looking to age-gate business accounts. When Instagram began testing hiding the like counts, teens and underage users started turning their private profiles to business accounts to access that audience data which exposed their contact info such as email address and or phone number – almost two million 12 to 15-year-olds on Instagram currently have their email address and or phone number publicly listed on their profiles which is a significant privacy issue.

Instagram will now soo start checking the age of the users wanting to change their profiles ad will include a ‘Minimum age’ qualifier on business accounts.

It had been revealed by reverse-engineer Jane in mid-October this year.

Instagram is testing age restriction for business accounts pic.twitter.com/Xrlc3gAPyH

— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) October 17, 2019

What they’re saying

oh no kids will never figure out how to set their birthdays to Jan 1 1975 like i did in 2006 on myspace https://t.co/iwfKexzQ5R

— dog professional (@nicebigdog) December 4, 2019

https://twitter.com/timmarchman/status/1202357872694300672

Instagram went from “no-comment” on my find to “OMG yes-comment!!! We protect kids!!! omg COPPA plsss we luv u!!” the very next day after @JoshConstine’s piece 😂https://t.co/sDgnYvC2Q2

— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) December 4, 2019

How will this work for parents setting up pages for their children? Will you do age verification to prove people are over 18? @FAcebook has previously allowed people to list their age as 99. Will this still be an option? What sort of oversight will be in place; human or bot?

— Sinnamon Love 🟣 | NYC #linkinbio (@SinnamonLove) December 4, 2019

Keep up with all things Instagram here.

Tags: Instagram
SendShare146Tweet92
George Kamau

George Kamau

I brunch on consumer tech | [email protected]

Related Posts

Instagram threads

Instagram Threads Rolls Out Direct Messaging in Major Feature Update

July 4, 2025
Counterfeit Products Infiltrate Kenya's Online Market

Counterfeit Goods Flood Kenyan Online Shops Like Jumia and Facebook

June 29, 2025
Kenya's Government Censors X for Global Image

Abductions and Arrests! Kenyan Government’s Fear and Hate of X Users Makes No Sense

June 25, 2025
instagram-edits

Instagram Adds Teleprompter to Edits App in Bid to Rival CapCut

June 5, 2025
ID Checks May Soon Be Required for Social Media in Kenya

ID Checks May Soon Be Required for Social Media in Kenya

May 21, 2025
Meta

Meta Criticized Over AI Chatbots’ Disturbing Interactions with Minors

April 28, 2025

Latest

Infinix Note 50 Pro x Java House Collab

Infinix Teams Up with Java House to Launch Note 50 Pro Series

July 4, 2025
Instagram threads

Instagram Threads Rolls Out Direct Messaging in Major Feature Update

July 4, 2025
Infinix Hot 60i Pre-order

Infinix Hot 60i Now Available for Pre-Order in Kenya

July 4, 2025
Windows

Microsoft’s Windows Usage Slumps as Macs, Linux, and Mobile Take Over

July 4, 2025
Microsoft

Microsoft Slashes 9,100 Jobs in Biggest Layoffs Since 2023

July 4, 2025
NASA

NASA Brings Space Missions to Netflix at No Extra Cost

July 3, 2025

Best devices

budget smartwatches 2025

Best Budget Smartwatches To Buy in Kenya 2025

February 13, 2025

Best Infinix Smartphones To Buy in Kenya 2024

February 13, 2025

Best Laptops for Battery Life in 2024

August 21, 2024

Best “Battery Warrior” Smartphones To Buy in 2024

August 22, 2024

Infinix Teams Up with Java House to Launch Note 50 Pro Series

July 4, 2025

Instagram Threads Rolls Out Direct Messaging in Major Feature Update

July 4, 2025

Techweez is a fast growing influential source of technology news, reviews and analysis by leading tech geeks in the industry.

Follow Us

Editorials

Abductions and Arrests! Kenyan Government’s Fear and Hate of X Users Makes No Sense

Actors and Film Crews Are Worried About Veo 3 Taking Their Jobs

Samsung QLED TVs Now Officially Certified for Real Quantum Dot Technology

Trump’s Tariffs Will Be the End of Affordable Tech

5 Ways to Prep Your Tech for Resale

The Weaponization of PDFs: How Cybercriminals Are Exploiting a Trusted Format

More News

iOS 26 May Pause Video if You Start Undressing on FaceTime

Apple Begins Testing Its First Foldable iPhone

Kenya Draws More Tourists as Mobile Data Roaming Soars

Axian Telecom Is Plotting a Full Buyout of Jumia

Kenya’s Cable TV Market Rebounds with 31.5% Growth

Football Meets AI as Microsoft Joins Forces with the EPL

  • Terms Of Use
  • Techweez Brand
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact Us

© 2024 Techweez - Palahala Media Group may earn a commission when you buy through links on our sites.
A Palahala Media Group Brand. All rights reserved.
.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

Techweez | Tech News, Reviews, Deals, Tips and How To
Crunchy Cookies 🍪 Ahead!

Hey there! Just a heads-up: we're big fans of cookies - both the digital and edible kind! 🍪 We use our cookies and some from third parties to ensure your browsing experience on our site is smooth sailing and secure.

 

But wait, there's more! We also use cookies to gather stats and insights on how you navigate our site. It's like getting a behind-the-scenes peek at your digital adventures!

 

Don't worry, you're in control. You can adjust your cookie settings anytime to suit your preferences. Feeling curious? Dive into our Privacy Policy for all the juicy details. Happy browsing! 🚀

Functional Always active
Listen, this legal stuff is about as exciting as watching paint dry. But it basically says we only use your stuff for what you asked us to do, and nobody else gets to peek!
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
It's those sneaky cookie crumbs websites leave behind to count visitors, like counting ants at a picnic! Totally harmless, just for fun facts. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
Hey there! Just letting you know we use some fancy gizmos to remember your preferences. This way, we can show you ads that are, well, not completely bananas.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
Make cookies
{title} {title} {title}
Techweez | Tech News, Reviews, Deals, Tips and How To
Crunchy Cookies 🍪 Ahead!
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
Listen, this legal stuff is about as exciting as watching paint dry. But it basically says we only use your stuff for what you asked us to do, and nobody else gets to peek!
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
It's those sneaky cookie crumbs websites leave behind to count visitors, like counting ants at a picnic! Totally harmless, just for fun facts. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
Hey there! Just letting you know we use some fancy gizmos to remember your preferences. This way, we can show you ads that are, well, not completely bananas.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
Make cookies
{title} {title} {title}
No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • Editorial
  • Automotive
  • Entertainment

© 2024 Techweez - Palahala Media Group may earn a commission when you buy through links on our sites.
A Palahala Media Group Brand. All rights reserved.
.