Instagram accidentally unveiled user passwords via its data download tool



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Instagram has informed some of its users that their password may have been exposed due to a security bug, according to L & # 39; information (via Engadget). A spokesman for the company said the problem had been "discovered internally and had affected a very small number of people."

In this case, the bug was related to a feature launched in April by the company, which allowed users to download all their data, set up after European legislators had deployed its general data protection regulations (GPR). According to Instagram, the password of some users who used this feature was included in a URL of their web browser, and these passwords were stored on the servers of Facebook, the parent company of Instagram. A security researcher said L & # 39; information that this would only be possible if Instagram stored its passwords in plain text, which could pose a bigger and more worrying security problem for the company.

Instagram said the feature has since been fixed so that passwords are no longer disclosed and users have to change their passwords as a precaution. In a statement to The Verge, an Instagram spokesperson said, "If someone submitted their login information to use the Instagram" Download Your Data "tool, they could see their password information in the URL of the page. This information has not been revealed to anyone else and we have made changes so that it does not happen anymore. "

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