Bipartisan Coalition Requests Instagram Location-Sharing Changes

Privacy Tip #456 – Bipartisan Coalition Urges Instagram to Change New Precise Location-Sharing Feature Thursday, August 21, 2025 On August 15, 2025, a bipartisan coalition of 37 state Attorneys General, led by Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr and New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez, sent a letter to Instagram requesting that it make “immediate changes to its newly implemented location-sharing feature, which allows a user’s precise location to be displayed on a map.” The letter “emphasizes the heightened dangers for vulnerable users, including children and survivors of domestic violence, noting that such tools can be exploited by predators, stalkers, and other malicious actors.” The letter requests that Instagram: Ensure that minors cannot enable location-sharing features; Send a clear alert to all adult users explaining the feature, outlining its risks, and providing full disclosure on how Instagram will use the location data; and Provide a simple, easy-to-access control to disable location sharing at any time for adults who choose to opt in. The attorneys general of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia
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