No private emails or phone numbers accessed improperly: Instagram on Chtrbox data leak

Instagram on Friday said initial investigations have shown that no private emails or phone numbers of its users have been accessed improperly, amid reports that an Indian entity stored its user data improperly.

Earlier this week, it was reported that a database - with over 49 million records, containing information of millions of Instagram influencers, celebrities and brand accounts - was found online. The database was allegedly traced back to Mumbai-based Chtrbox.

Instagram had said it was investigating whether the third party had improperly stored its user data, which is in violation of its policies.

In a statement, an Instagram spokesperson said,

"We take any allegation of data misuse seriously. Following an initial investigation into the claims made in this story, we found that no private emails or phone numbers of Instagram users were accessed".

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The spokesperson added that Chtrbox's database had publicly available information from many sources, one of which was Instagram.

Following the reports, Chtrbox - which works with brands and their agencies that leverage its influencer network across the marketing cycle - said that the data of a limited number of influencers was inadvertently exposed but that did not include any sensitive personal information.

It had termed the reports of private data being leaked 'inaccurate', but acknowledged that "a particular database for limited influencers was inadvertently exposed for approximately 72 hours".

"This database did not include any sensitive personal data and only contained information available from the public domain, or self reported by influencers," it said in its statement.

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