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An option to backup your Instagram data is coming soon (Update: Available on desktop)

A desktop version of the promised Instagram backup tool launched today. In-app versions are coming soon.
By
April 24, 2018

 

Update 4/24/2018 at 4:38 P.M. EST: Earlier this month, Instagram revealed that it planned to offer an Instagram backup tool for users. This would bring Instagram more in line with parent company Facebook when it comes to giving users the ability to make their data portable.

Now, a month ahead of the deadline to be in compliance with the European GDPR privacy law, Instagram made a data backup tool available today. As of now, the tool is only available via the desktop app but will come to the Android and iOS apps soon. If you’re on a desktop, you can click here to give the new feature a try.


Original Article: Right after the Cambridge Audio Audio Analytica scandal broke, we posted an article giving you detailed instructions on how to download your Facebook data. Despite all the negative press Facebook has been receiving lately, some degree of praise is in order for how simple the company makes it to download all your data.

However, Facebook-owned social media giant Instagram doesn’t have an option to download your data. But, according to statements given to TechCrunch, an option to do just that is imminent.

As of today, if you want to download your Instagram photos and videos, you have to resort to third-party apps like FastSave. Even then, that just helps you download media, not your likes, comments, or profile info.

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If Instagram offers a feature like Facebook does where you can download literally everything in your Instagram profile, that would certainly be a game-changer. Not only would it make it far more convenient to save all of your uploaded media, but it would enable users to delete their Instagram accounts without having to sacrifice their data.

One could argue that making it easier to leave Instagram is why the company has avoided a data backup option for the entirety of its eight-year existence.

With this new backup option, users will be able to delete Instagram without losing their images and videos.

However, in Europe Instagram no longer has a choice in the matter. Starting on May 25, 2018, all social media apps will have to offer data portability to comply with the European GDPR privacy law. See how regulation of social networks benefits us all?

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We don’t yet know what the upcoming data backup option on Instagram will be like. Will it let you download everything you’ve ever done on Instagram, like Facebook’s backup tool? Will it allow you to download uncompressed versions of the images and videos you’ve posted, or compressed versions? What about your stories that “vanish” after a certain period? That stuff too?

We’ll have to wait until the feature rolls out. But if you’ve been waiting to leave Instagram because of the daunting task of backing everything up, you only have a bit longer to wait. In the meantime, tweak your privacy settings using our instructions here.

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