Instagram exposes an unknown number of user passwords

• Instagram suffered a data leak because of a bug that may have leaked user passwords.
• It is unclear exactly how many users have been affected because the social media company has not revealed too much detail.
• The bug was related to the "Upload your data" feature, which allows users to see how much data the website has collected.

Instagram has suffered a potential data leak with the compromised "Download your data" feature. Ironically, this feature is supposed to serve as a security measure to help users visualize all the data collected by the platform. Users affected by the data leak have already been notified. The "Download your data" feature was introduced to comply with the European GDPR policy that came into effect earlier this year.

After the Instagram security incident, the social media platform revealed Thursday that some users' passwords were accidentally disclosed and discovered internally. The number of people who have been affected by the incident is unknown. Instagram has not revealed any details. According to Chet Wisniewski, senior researcher at Sophos, "This is very worrying for other security practices inside Instagram, as this should literally not be possible. If that happens, there are probably bigger problems than that. "

The "Download your data" tool has already been modified to prevent a similar problem from happening again. Users have been asked to update their passwords and remove their browser history as a security measure to prevent compromise of their accounts.

Instagram belongs to Facebook, a platform victim of multiple data breaches, including a recent incident involving the theft of about 30 million user chips. Facebook is trying to strengthen its security by going so far as to acquire a cybersecurity company against a backdrop of declining user base, particularly among teens. As Internet users are more sensitive than ever to data breaches and leaks, such incidents can have a detrimental effect on the reputation and user base of a platform.

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