Instagram is currently asking users if they want to take a video selfie of themselves so they can identify themselves. For example, the social media company wants to find out whether there is a real person behind the account. The photo-sharing service does this in the fight against the many bots on the platform, which cause a lot of unrest.
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Door Metronieuws.nl
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Instagram already tested the functionality last year, but ran into technical problems at the time. In the past period there have been a lot of messages from people who say that they are now dealing with this. They are all told the same thing: they have to verify their identity from the platform.
Take video selfie for Instagram
A tweet from a user shows that the service wants to see your face from all kinds of angles. So you have to prove that you are a human and use the account as a human. If you do not do this, you will lose access to your account. Obviously, users are not happy about this, according to the same tweets.
In another tweet, the company explains what is going on. The platform asks for verification the moment it registers suspicious behavior. Then think of suddenly following completely different accounts or when someone likes a lot of photos of you. The company emphasizes that it does not use facial recognition.
Send a video selfie, then what?
As soon as you send in a video selfie, a team will look at the submitted material. That is not an automated process. In addition, the videos are kept for thirty days and then deleted. With a bit of luck, the videos will not just be stolen by hackers.
That many users are angry about this is somewhat justified. In the past, the company often asked for personal data, which then ended up in the hands of malicious parties. In addition, parent company Meta does not have a great reputation for privacy and photos.
