Instagram’s New Map Feature Could Reveal Your Home Address—Here’s How To Keep It Private

We’ve all been there: After a long day at work or a hectic weekend, nothing sounds better than sinking into the couch and scrolling through social media. It’s a quick way to catch up on the day’s news or see what friends have been up to.

This week, Instagram launched a new feature that takes connecting with your friends and family on the app to a new whole new level—but it’s actually concerning many homeowners. 

Instagram Maps is a new feature on the social media app that shows a user’s last active location, whether that be your workplace, vacation spot, or—perhaps what’s alarming users the most—where you live. 

While Instagram’s parent company reminds users that the feature is off unless users opt into sharing, fears of “stalkers” and “doxxing” are running rampant. But there is a way to be sure you’re not being literally followed by your Insta followers offline.

Instagram map feature and the backlash

On Wednesday, Aug. 6, Meta announced new features coming to Instagram that the company says are meant to “help you better connect with your friends.” Among them was Instagram Maps, a tracking feature similar to the “Find My” feature on Apple IOS.

While the company sees the map feature as a way to “stay up-to-date with friends,” many users immediately criticized the addition over safety concerns. They voiced concerns about the feature being used as a tool for stalking or worse, doxxing. 

“What is with the obsession of having our location shared to the public??? NO THANK YOU!” one person wrote on X.

“I cannot express to you how dangerous this Instagram map is for women. It just so clearly illustrates how men in tech don’t consider women’s lives at all,” wrote another commenter on Threads.

Is your location automatically shared on Instagram Maps?

According to the company, your location will not be automatically on Instagram Maps. 

When you open the feature for the first time on the app, you’ll be asked if you wish to participate.

“Quick Friend Map clarification, your location will only be shared *if* you decide to share it, and if you do, it can only [be] shared with a limited group of people you choose,” wrote the head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, on Threads. “To start, location sharing is *completely off.*”

If you both opt in to the feature and enable location sharing, a group of people you select (followers you follow back, Close Friends, or only selected friends) will be able to see where you are on the map.

How to turn Instagram map-location sharing on and off

Despite assurances from the company, several users have claimed their location has been shared, despite not opting in to the service. However, these claims have yet to be verified. 

To be safe, here’s how homeowners can turn off the location sharing function on Instagram to keep their address safe:

1. Tap messages icon at the top right of home feed on the app. 

2. Tap Map at the top of inbox.

3. Tap settings icon in the top right.

To turn off location sharing, choose “no one.”

Alternatively, to opt in to location sharing, select “friends,” “close friends” or choose select people.

4. Tap Done at the bottom to save changes.

Now, even if you have location sharing off, you can still look at the Map and see posts from anyone who has their location shared with you.

To double-check if you’ve disabled the feature, there are various shapes that will indicate your settings, once you’ve reached the specific “settings” icon:

A blue arrow means you’re sharing your location with your selected audience. 

A red dot means you’re not sharing your location with anyone. 

An orange triangle means you have disabled location permissions on your device entirely, and you would have to enable those permissions in order to share your location. 

Disabling location permissions directly from your phone may be the best bet, if you’re looking to keep your address protected on the app.