Privacy concern on instagram
March 1, 2022 8:22 AM Subscribe
Just rechecked my settings on Instagram. It says I have an Unrecognized Login "An unrecognized Apple iphone 11 has logged in from Foster City, CA, USA."
What does this really mean for me? What can I do about this?
It means that some device in California logged on to your Instagram account. What's the timestamp listed for the login? The two most likely possibilities are that you logged on and forgot that you did, or that someone guess your Instagram password (or whatever password you use, such as a Facebook or Google login). If you're sure it's not you, change your password right away. And then stop doing was I was doing and re-using passwords everywhere.
posted by wnissen at 8:42 AM on March 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by wnissen at 8:42 AM on March 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
Do you have an iphone? I log into Instagram with an iPad, and because I have something set to "don't let apps determine your location," or words to that effect, my iPad for a long time was identified as a device in Foster City. (I'm in Pennsylvania.) I wonder if Foster City doesn't show up as a default location for iThingies if the app isn't allowed to access your GPS data or something.
On the other hand, it's possible I have no idea what I'm talking about, and some weirdo in Foster City is trying to hack your Instagram account, so please proceed with due caution.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 8:52 AM on March 1, 2022 [2 favorites]
On the other hand, it's possible I have no idea what I'm talking about, and some weirdo in Foster City is trying to hack your Instagram account, so please proceed with due caution.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 8:52 AM on March 1, 2022 [2 favorites]
I agree with everyone saying you should change your password and enable 2FA, but sometimes I get weird location alerts like this when I use my own phone and I know the login was me. I think it has something to do with cell phone networks and IP address geolocation being wonky sometimes.
posted by Kosh at 8:52 AM on March 1, 2022
posted by Kosh at 8:52 AM on March 1, 2022
Response by poster: Just changed password and enabled 2FA---but--the password was one of those randomly-generated ones from Chrome, never used elsewhere. I have no facebook account, and there is no possible way I forgot I was ever in Foster City. I live in Toronto. So what on earth happened?
posted by uans at 9:23 AM on March 1, 2022
posted by uans at 9:23 AM on March 1, 2022
Foster City is very close to the Facebook and Instagram HQ in Menlo Park - perhaps a glitch on their end? Still good that you enabled 2FA - at this point I'd ignore it unless it happens again.
posted by dttocs at 9:31 AM on March 1, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by dttocs at 9:31 AM on March 1, 2022 [4 favorites]
Do you use a VPN service? By design, they will route your traffic through their servers, which may well be located in/near Foster City.
Also, do you have an iPhone at all? Did you log in to Instagram on that phone at about that time? If you have an iPhone 11 and the only thing wrong is the location, that's a different concern than if you don't own any Apple products at all.
posted by yuwtze at 10:23 AM on March 1, 2022
Also, do you have an iPhone at all? Did you log in to Instagram on that phone at about that time? If you have an iPhone 11 and the only thing wrong is the location, that's a different concern than if you don't own any Apple products at all.
posted by yuwtze at 10:23 AM on March 1, 2022
Do you have iCloud Private Relay active (link will show you how to check)? Your phone may appear to be logging in from a relay in, e.g. Foster City, if so.
posted by Maecenas at 10:40 AM on March 1, 2022
posted by Maecenas at 10:40 AM on March 1, 2022
Response by poster: I have an iphone 8. No VPN. No Private Relay.
posted by uans at 10:47 AM on March 1, 2022
posted by uans at 10:47 AM on March 1, 2022
Ignore the city; it's unreliable.
IG doesn't actually know where the iphone logged in from-- they know the origin IP address of the connection, and they looked up that IP in a "GeoIP" database which shows a location added when the IP address was first issued.
Where is that IP being used now? Nobody effing knows; the geographic location of IP addresses is poorly maintained, so the most reliable IP/Geographic information is for IPs connected to companies that don't move around. Suppose some ISP in Foster City folded, and its IP address reservations when up for grabs, and they were re-issued to an ISP in your city. It's tremendously unlikely that anyone updated the geographic info associated with the pool of IPs or some faction there of.
Even if that IP is in Foster City CA, that doesn't mean the phone is-- other people use VPNs even if you don't, and there could be a VPN endpoint in Foster City.
The fact is that the city was a guess based on unreliable information. Ignore the city; focus on the fact of the intrusion, and booting the iPhone 11 out of your account, and changing your password and getting 2FA active.
posted by Sunburnt at 11:42 AM on March 1, 2022
IG doesn't actually know where the iphone logged in from-- they know the origin IP address of the connection, and they looked up that IP in a "GeoIP" database which shows a location added when the IP address was first issued.
Where is that IP being used now? Nobody effing knows; the geographic location of IP addresses is poorly maintained, so the most reliable IP/Geographic information is for IPs connected to companies that don't move around. Suppose some ISP in Foster City folded, and its IP address reservations when up for grabs, and they were re-issued to an ISP in your city. It's tremendously unlikely that anyone updated the geographic info associated with the pool of IPs or some faction there of.
Even if that IP is in Foster City CA, that doesn't mean the phone is-- other people use VPNs even if you don't, and there could be a VPN endpoint in Foster City.
The fact is that the city was a guess based on unreliable information. Ignore the city; focus on the fact of the intrusion, and booting the iPhone 11 out of your account, and changing your password and getting 2FA active.
posted by Sunburnt at 11:42 AM on March 1, 2022
Best answer: According to an old reddit post, it's supposed to be an example, not an actual login notice. Heh?
posted by kschang at 11:50 AM on March 1, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by kschang at 11:50 AM on March 1, 2022 [5 favorites]
Best answer: I just looked at the post that kschang linked to and looked at my own settings. I see Foster City as the example. Do yours look like mine (imgur link)?
posted by kimberussell at 12:45 PM on March 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by kimberussell at 12:45 PM on March 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: kimberussell, yes, that is just what it looks like. No time stamp, either
posted by uans at 1:15 PM on March 1, 2022
posted by uans at 1:15 PM on March 1, 2022
i see the same thing that kimberrussell posted. it's not itself a notification... it's an example of what such a notification would look like. mine says "An unrecognized Apple iphone 11 has logged in from Foster City, CA, USA." just like you saw. this is also what the folks on kschang's reddit page are talking about.
but this page is not the list of logins, it's the settings for whether you get notifications. go to Settings / Security / Login Activity to see the list of actual logins.
posted by bruceo at 5:10 PM on March 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
but this page is not the list of logins, it's the settings for whether you get notifications. go to Settings / Security / Login Activity to see the list of actual logins.
posted by bruceo at 5:10 PM on March 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by coffeecat at 8:39 AM on March 1, 2022 [1 favorite]