I’ve probably mentioned that before, but I ended up being one of the de-facto photographers for a club I’m in, where I take photos of the events we organize. As such, I was encouraged to create an instagram account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For reasons, I keep all Facebook\/Meta apps off my phone, and only access them through a browser on my computer. In the past, that ended up causing some problems when I’ve got logins from 5 (3 + dual-boot) different devices1<\/a><\/sup> I’m dual-booting Linux\/Windows on my PC, so that’s 2. My Surface Pro 7 brings the number up to 3. On my BYOD laptop that I also used for my employer, there were logins from my personal user profile, as well as on my work user account, for a grand total of 5 logins.<\/span> . At approximately the same time, I’ve learned that some Imagus2<\/a><\/sup>A browser extension that allows you to preview images on the internet by hovering over links or thumbnails<\/span> users got bans for “using automated tools.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n Just so happens that I use Imagus, so I upped my instagram op-sec to ridiculous levels ever since. I only ever use Instagram from one (1) browser with no addons that I use for nothing else, on one (1) device. And for just over a year, there were no problems with Instagram.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But then I took a vacation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I spent an extended weekend on Cres, which is about three hours (+ a ferry) south and across a country border. While on Cres, I made two or three instagram posts, and checked how Instagram is doing about twice more. This was done either through a wifi network at the place I was staying, or through a hotspot on my phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When I came home, there was a “hey you’re not banned yet, but we suspect you’re using automated tools to access instagram” popup waiting for me when I opened instagram. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Given my policy of only using instagram in one stock browser on one device, the only reason they could “get” me is via IP geolocation. The logic being that if person’s IP geolocation changes often, and if changes from country to country a bit too fast, then this could be a sign that someone could be using Instagram from a server they bought somewhere else3<\/a><\/sup>Or they could be using VPN, but the Venn diagram of people who know what a VPN is and people who use Instagram is almost two distinct circles<\/span>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The problem with that logic is the existence of roaming in EU\/EEA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For the purposes of IP geolocation, your device will show as being in your home country even when you’re roaming abroad. However, if you connect to a wifi network, your device will suddenly appear as being in the country you’re in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you’re using a browser on a computer, Instagram will identify that as sus behaviour. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The only reason this kind of issue doesn’t happen often is because most instagram users only use instagram on their phones. An app on your phone can access a lot more data about your device than a webpage running in your browser, and facebook apps absolutely do that. Which is probably a good part of the reason average Instagram user isn’t going to get this issue. That, and most people probably either use cellphone data while roaming and don’t bother with wifi, or don’t use data while roaming and only do wifi while abroad.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"So why did it happen?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n