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Caution: Dana Zermon's app may block you from Instagram

The network's anchor has assured its half a million followers that the app it owns, "Mihamu", is safe to use.

But about two years ago, Facebook began taking action against such apps - and blocking users.

Zarmon in response: The use of the app never caused a blockage. "Walla! Technology Research

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• Dana Zermon

• Instagram

Yinon Ben Shoshan

Thursday, 01 July 2021, 14:32 Updated: 15:02

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(Photo: Walla! TECH, Yinon Ben-Shoshan)

"It's 100% secure and no one has access to your personal details except you. Full privacy and security!", Dana Zermon wrote last night (Wednesday) to her 545,000 followers on Instagram when asked about the security of her app, mimamu (" From his mother ").

This is an app that promises to analyze for you the exposure data of your followers, and provide you with in-depth information - who is watching you in profile, who is not watching you at all and who puts you on "mute".

The application of course also has a business model, and to make use of some of the features you will have to pay.

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To the full article

"No!

No!

No! ', Dana Zermon's message to followers (Photo: screenshot, Instagram)

Although Zarmon did promise that the app would not block them ("No! No! No!", She replied to followers), but in practice the situation is completely different and applications of this kind have long been targeted by Facebook, which has worked on the subject in the past and blocked millions of Instagram accounts around the world.

Violation of the policy

'They can see your personal messages.

This puts your and your friends' security at risk. "

In order to allow the app to provide you with the data, it must be given permission to log in to the account - and provide your username and password - which is completely contrary to the company's rules.

Social network policies have explicit reference to apps that do similar actions.

"If you provide your apps with your login information, or your username and password, they can have full access to your account," they write on Instagram. Or harmful content in your profile.

This puts your and your friends' security at risk.

"" Such services are not approved by Instagram, and you should never give anyone else access to your Instagram account.

Accounts that create unauthentic activity run counter to Instagram's community guidelines. "

Dana Zermon (Photo: Rafi Daloia)

Change in algorithm

In 2019, an article was published in Business Insider that addressed a sudden wave of blockages, apparently following a change in the app's algorithm. To her utter surprise, Instagram began blocking users and warning them not to share their login information with third-party apps - like Zermon's mimamu.

The blocking message, which has appeared to millions of users around the world, states that "suspicious activity has been identified in the account," and that "the password is shared with an external service, which is against community rules." How does such a thing happen? With the help of computerized learning, the social network can now identify users who have shared account information with external apps.

In this case, you have two options: either change your password - and disconnect all connections with the automated service (you will initially receive a warning message), or risk being blocked for an unclear period of time, and even permanently expelled from the platform.

In response to a post on Business Insider, the social network said that "we are conducting a detailed review of third-party apps to combat this type of behavior, and as a precaution, we also asked people who may have given their Instagram access to apps to change their passwords."

"The password is shared with an external service."

The message received by users (Photo: Screenshot, Instagram)

"Account Recovery - Impossible"

"Facebook blocks accounts that use third-party applications that provide data because it violates its policies, and because it is a privacy threat," said Orr Pialkov, CEO of Pialkov Digital and owner of EasyCloud Web Hosting, in a conversation with Walla! Technology. There are quite a few discussions on the social networks of people who have been blocked after using such apps.

"Any app that can use your information, and does automated actions on your behalf, violates the terms of use, and can cause the account to be blocked. Facebook has previously blocked hundreds of applications that violated the terms of use and used users' data. It is recommended not to use such software, otherwise recovering the account will be impossible. "

"In fact, the terms of use of Instagram explicitly state 'Help us stay free of spam by not collecting likes, followers or shares artificially, posting non-recurring comments or content and not repeatedly contacting people for commercial purposes without their consent,' meaning any use In an artificial application, it is forbidden according to the terms of use, "Pialkov adds.

The blockage will not be immediate

"You can commit the violation today, and be permanently blocked from using the platform in a few months"

"Facebook and Instagram have a policy of using and advertising that is enforced by the method of ignorance of the law is not exempt from punishment," says Tamir Farkash, consultant to organizations and companies in matters of Facebook and Instagram advertising policy, in a conversation with Walla! technology. "The policy is not intuitive and without its deep understanding, the chance of violating it exceeds the chance of not violating it as an advertiser or surfer."

"Policy enforcement is carried out by automated tools (AI and various algorithms) that constantly scan the content and sift out policy-breaking content. Tools that interfere with this authenticity, whether by changing the experience of the surfer (for example, a bot that generates referrals to surfers in the business name, or makes likes from profiles Which are not real) are blocked all the time because they both hurt the surfer's experience and also interfere with the way Facebook and Instagram want us to experience the platform. "

Farkash says that even if the tool obeys the technical rules of pulling data from the platform and does not harm the authentic experience of using it, the way it will advertise, present it and its benefits to the public will also be measured in accordance with the platforms' advertising policies.

"The tool may not be violating the policy, but its manner of advertising on Facebook and the website and app store does violate it. Enforcement can come long after the policy is violated. You can commit the violation today, and be permanently blocked from using the platform in a few months."

Also, as is well known, one of the basic lines of Facebook and Instagram and in general of companies that use user data. "Once you pull data, even if the data exists, you can violate Facebook's policies," Farkash emphasizes.

"Tools that let you see more data beyond what the platforms present to you, are tools that 'play' with the experience that Facebook would like you to have as a user and are therefore very tricky as stated. Ultimately, policy is the way Facebook conducts and sees platforms and itself "App, project and advertising will be measured in the future according to how they comply with the policy."

"Enforcement can come long after the policy is violated" (Photo: ShutterStock)

"Helpless behind a blocked account"

"The problem with apps of this type is the connection to the personal profile and the delivery of login information," explains Gal Lavie, an expert on social networks, in a conversation with Walla! technology. Instagram works hard to protect us and its community and it does so by preventing the use of robots or connecting from suspicious areas / devices.

"" Once Instagram recognizes one of the two it warns the profile and even blocks it. Many ignore these warnings and find themselves helpless behind a blocked account and inability to recover it just because they wanted to know who was following them. "

Lavie explains that any app that takes over your profile and has no agreement with Instagram could put you in danger." The information you receive "From those systems, it is illegal in the eyes of Instagram and it will do everything to prevent harm to its users."

"When your account suddenly connects from Sweden and you are from Israel in general, Instagram concludes that it is probably a robot and will block the account. When there are multiple connections to your account - the same.

My recommendation, settle for the information you have in the app.

The pursuit of who the pot is or who your stalker is is undoubtedly an unnecessary preoccupation that only causes mental stress. "

"Many ignore those warnings and find themselves helpless" (Photo: Walla! TECH, Yinon Ben-Shoshan)

Mimamu response:

"The accusations that the" Mimahmo "app blocks / breaks into accounts are false, as evidenced by the tens of thousands of users who enjoy it every day. We can not speak on behalf of any other app other than our work. The use of" Mimahmo "has never blocked users."

"At the end of 2020, as part of the US state's efforts to prevent foreign interference in its country's election, Facebook, which owns Instagram, sent verification requests to any user who identified a connection to a third party service, to verify that it was authentic and not a bot." .

"this process, which sometimes happens today, disrupting the user experience much Iozrim Israelis than 2 reasons: verification code sent in SMS sent from Instagram reverse, (mixing left and right letters, technical failure of English subtitles), causing the crowd "Israelis make a mistake in typing the code and thus fail in the verification process."

"Many Israelis today are connected to their personal Instagram with an old Walla! Email address, which has stopped supporting email boxes that have not been active for over a year. The inability of those users to recover their email box has caused many users to lock out of the account."

In conclusion, we are an Israeli start-up company, all our development is based in Israel, we make every effort every day to provide excellent service, while maintaining our users, their privacy and constant technical support on a variety of issues in the field. We will continue to do so despite The efforts to defame us. "

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