Does instagram have more trouble identifying me on Grapheneos?

Firstleavebananas

If i use the instagram app just with orbot and i do not give instagram any personal data about me including no uploads of pictures and videos at all, what kind of data would instagram get then about me?
Would it be the same data then every other app on my phone? I never used any google or meta services on this Grapheneos device before. Open source apps only. I think about using instagram for research porpuses. I would not engage with people i really know. I would give the app just network permission.
If i only activate the instagram app when it is in use and i am on orbot systemwide vpn mode, than i see no chance that instagram can get any indentifiable information about me.
I could use all capabilities of the app (despite self doxing ones ofcourse) and can still remain anonymous.
Ofcourse email and phone number would not be linked to my real ones.
Am i right on all of that?
If so, would it be the same on stock android? Or is it thanks to Grapheneos? I think its because Grapheneos but you tell me.
Ps: i've red the Grapheneos Features text multiple times but i am still not 100%sure thats why i ask people who hopefully know more than me.

errol_morris

I'm surprised no one has replied to this after a whole year+. I've had similar questions. I've read through the (very helpful!) description of GrapheneOS, including the sandboxing topic. And I've read that, despite sandboxing, different apps can share data with each other, if the apps cooperate and allow it to happen. But one of the things I like about GrapheneOS and other privacy-centric methodologies (e.g. web browsers with ad-blocking) is that it drastically reduces the amount of creepy advertisements that pop up on one device or in one app, that relate to something I just looked up in another.

I'd love to find out if Instagram allows its advertising data to be read by any other app, and if any other app allows its data to be read by Instagram. If anyone could answer that with some amount of certainty (in the negative), I'd install Instagram on my Graphene device.

de0u

errol_morris I'd love to find out if Instagram allows its advertising data to be read by any other app, and if any other app allows its data to be read by Instagram. If anyone could answer that with some amount of certainty (in the negative), I'd install Instagram on my Graphene device.

I suspect a negative answer with certainty is unlikely. For one thing, it is plausible that other apps owned by Meta (Facebook, WhatsApp) might share information for user convenience (or perhaps for other reasons).

I don't know, but these days it's possible that Instagram requires Google Play, in which case it would be communicating about something with Play.

But a larger problem is that a fairly careful examination of Instagram's app today would provide zero assurance about the next release of Instagram.

Running Instagram in a dedicated user profile would make it harder for it to find out things about the device, but not as hard as putting it on a dedicated device.

Eumenia

de0u I suspect a negative answer with certainty is unlikely. For one thing, it is plausible that other apps owned by Meta (Facebook, WhatsApp) might share information for user convenience (or perhaps for other reasons).

I don't know, but these days it's possible that Instagram requires Google Play, in which case it would be communicating about something with Play.

Do achieve an "anonymous Instagram" you need to isolate the apl from all other apps that could identify

GOSbesto

de0u I use instagram with orbot in a different profile, no gms needed

GOSbesto

Eumenia I do

errol_morris

Thanks for the pointers.

I don't have any other Meta apps I plan to install. I was more wondering what people know about 3rd-party advertising companies that work with the likes of Meta... My thinking is that Instagram and something like, say, Lyft, would opt to trade information (like cookies I suppose?) with each other so their 3rd party advertisers can better track us. I'm coming at this as a former engineer who can hold my own with the basics of a few programming languages, but I don't know the details of how current ad tracking technologies work.

But, unless anyone has any other insights into how advertisers work... yes, my solution would probably be to try and install Instagram and only log in to it from a separate user profile that has minimal apps. Although, now that I look, I see that it won't install into my Graphene phone via the Play Store (not a huge surprise), and I don't see Instagram listed in GitHub. So.. this sounds like good sense is telling me to "run away" and only have Instagram on my old/alternate phone. @GOSbesto where did you find an Instagram APK?

GOSbesto

errol_morris i iuse instafel mod

GOSbesto

errol_morris use nextdns as a private dns and block ad domains

Delaney

errol_morris I don't have any other Meta apps I plan to install. I was more wondering what people know about 3rd-party advertising companies that work with the likes of Meta

This thread may be relevant: https://grapheneos.social/@GrapheneOS/114620254209885149

Granted, GrapheneOS did defend against this, but it does illustrate the implications of installing just one Meta app.

other8026

Note: Please don't push conspiracy stuff here. We have rules against politics and conspiracy for a reason. We want discussions to be technical and for proof to be provided when making claims, which a recent post had none for what was claimed. It's well-known that there are services that fingerprint users, that's nothing new and doesn't mean what was said here.

GOSbesto

other8026 what conspiracy was said here

sketchy9

Instagram is suprisingly full-featured as a Progressive Web App. You'll potentially miss out on notifications though.