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InstaViewer

Privacy statement

Document date

1. Records kept by InstaViewer

InstaViewer keeps no personal records. Visitors neither register nor sign in, so no user file exists in the first place. Pages are delivered as prebuilt files, and InstaViewer keeps no log of lookups. One exception concerns the page address. Each search opens a page whose address carries the username (/?u=name), and so does a shared link; the hosting and CDN providers of section 4 may record in their access logs. InstaViewer itself sets neither tracking nor advertising cookies. Advertising on its pages comes from third-party ad networks, which use technologies of their own as described in section 5.

2. Data held by your browser

“Recent lookups” is stored in the local storage of your browser and never transmitted. Its only content is the usernames looked up in that browser; a different browser or device has no access to it. Two ways to delete it:

  1. select “Clear list” beside it on the start page;
  2. remove the stored data for instaviewer.io through the browser’s own options.

In a private window, the browser deletes the list automatically at the end of the session.

While a tab stays open, it also remembers how many searches were made in it and the last username searched, and when a download last opened a sponsored tab, so that such tabs come at most once a minute. Closing the tab clears these.

The ad networks of section 5 may keep cookies or similar entries of their own for instaviewer.io in this browser as well.

A service worker additionally caches two InstaViewer pages (start page and error page) for use without a connection. Profiles and media are never placed in this cache, and it is deleted together with the other stored data for instaviewer.io. The same service worker carries the part of an ad network that delivers browser notifications, used only if you allow them (section 5).

3. What the data provider receives

Submitting a username causes your browser to request the profile from an external data provider, which queries Instagram for it and relays the answer to your browser. The provider thereby learns:

  • your IP address;
  • the username submitted;
  • standard request metadata, among them the Origin header naming this site; the specific page you were on is not included.

Its retention periods are not set by us. Tools such as a VPN narrow down what each contacted server gets to see.

4. Service providers used

  • The hosting provider delivers the static files of this site.
  • The CDN is a shield layer ahead of the site that blocks abuse and handles IP addresses briefly to do so.
  • The profile data provider answers each lookup (section 3).
  • Third-party ad networks deliver the advertising (section 5).

Besides the advertisers the ad networks send you to, data from this site goes to these parties only. InstaViewer sells no data to any of them.

5. Advertising

All advertising on InstaViewer comes from third-party ad networks. Each acts as an independent third party: it chooses the ads and decides what data its delivery uses, under its own privacy policy. The site shows no consent window for them, in any region.

  • Pop-under tabs and windows: after a click on the page, a network may open an advertiser’s page in a new tab or window, usually behind the current one. The click does not need to be on an ad.
  • Floating notices: small notices may appear over the page; each can be closed.
  • Full-screen ads: after a search or on a guide, an ad may cover the page until it is closed with its own button.
  • Browser notifications: after a search, the browser may ask whether instaviewer.io may show notifications. Only after a yes can the network send ad notifications, including while the site is closed. The browser’s site settings withdraw that permission at any time.
  • Sponsored links and boxes: “Discover” at the end of a profile’s description, the “Discover more like this” boxes under results, among the media and in guides, a bar at the bottom of the screen, and “Trending” links in recent lookups, the media viewer and the footer all lead to advertisers’ offers. They are ads placed by InstaViewer, not recommendations from the accounts shown.
  • Second tab on download: a click on a download button saves the file as usual and may also open an advertiser’s page in a new tab, at most once a minute.
  • Measurement: the networks and the advertisers they serve may read the IP address, browser type, language, screen size and the address of the page, and may store cookies or similar identifiers in the browser. These serve to choose ads, to limit repetition, to count views and clicks, and to filter fraudulent traffic.
  • Ad blocker check: on a search page the browser tests whether the advertising scripts can load. When a blocker stops them, no search is run and the page asks for ads to be allowed on InstaViewer. InstaViewer counts how often that happens, without any username or IP address.

Two points apply in every case. The “Recent lookups” list never leaves the browser (section 2), and no network receives a list of looked-up usernames. The advertising scripts, however, run in the page itself rather than in a separate frame: on a search page they can read its address, which holds the username being viewed (section 1), and what the page shows.

6. Rights of the data subject

You can request access to, correction of or erasure of any personal data held about you. Since InstaViewer holds none, the reply will normally be a written statement to that effect. The party responsible for this statement is InstaViewer; its contact address is info@instaviewer.io. A complaint may also be lodged with the privacy regulator of your country of residence.

7. Contact address

info@instaviewer.io.