This is how you protect your Instagram account against hackers and snoopers | Tech

There are several ways to secure your Instagram account. This way you can shield your account from snoopers, but it is of course also useful to ensure that no one intrudes on your account unsolicited.

Let’s start with the most important thing: how to protect yourself from intruders. That way you can be sure that no one is fraudulent with your identity. Make sure you set up two-step verification. That means you have to go through two steps to log in. First you enter your username and password, and then you use a code that you receive via text message.

This function is easy to set up via the app. You can find the Instagram settings by going to your own profile and clicking on the three bars at the top right. Then click on the “Security” tab, after which you select the “Two-Step Verification” button. The app explains there how to turn on two-step verification.

Maybe you’re harassed by spam accounts or you simply don’t feel like snooping on your Instagram. There are plenty of good reasons to protect your account. That is therefore easy to set up.

This time choose ‘Privacy’ in the settings menu, and go to the heading ‘Account privacy’. Next to the word ‘Private account’ you will find a switch. Turn this on and no one can just view your account.

If someone wants to see your photos and stories, they need to send a follow request. Then you will receive a notification and you can decide for yourself whether you want to allow this person to access your account. If you do not give permission, the request will be deleted and access denied.

You do have to look critically at your list of followers. Just because you’ve made your account private doesn’t mean you don’t already have unwanted followers. It is therefore smart to remove accounts from the list if you do not want them to be able to see your photos.

Don’t want to show how many people like your post? You can hide likes. This way no one will see how many people respond to your messages.

Go back to the ‘Privacy’ heading in the settings menu. When you click on the ‘Messages’ tab, you will soon see the option to hide likes. Turn on the slider and no one will be able to see the likes on one of your posts.

You can also immediately set who you share your Instagram Stories with. Under the heading ‘Stories’ you have the option to hide them, where you can select which accounts are not allowed to see your stories. You can also indicate here whether people are allowed to comment on your stories.

It’s also smart to hide your location. You usually already have a lot of control over this because you have to consciously add it yourself when posting a photo and/or video in your feed or story. However, when someone else posts and mentions you, you have no control over that.

Go back one last time to the “Privacy” heading in the settings menu and select the “Listings” button. Here you can set that only people you follow can add your username to photos – or no one at all.