An Instagram account (illustrative image).

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Khaled DESOUKI / AFP

In Ireland, the Data Protection Commission (DPC), the equivalent of the French CNIL, announced on Monday the opening of two separate procedures, targeting the social network Instagram, a subsidiary of Facebook.

The investigations were opened last month after complaints were filed that phone numbers and email addresses of young people under the age of 18 were accessible to all users on the network, a statement said.

The Irish regulator supervises Facebook on behalf of the EU, since the latter has its regional headquarters in Ireland.

Investigation into the security measures in place for minors

“Instagram is a social network which is widely used by children in Ireland and across Europe,” recalls Graham Doyle, one of the regulator's officials.

"The DPC has actively looked at the complaints received from individuals and identified potential problems related to the processing of children's personal data on Instagram, which requires further examination," he added.

For its part, Facebook had not yet responded to AFP's requests.

The DPC will determine if the application has put in place the necessary safeguards to protect user data, especially if they are minors, while you must be at least 13 years old to open an account on Instagram .

The regulator will also verify that the social network complies with the European Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) concerning the configuration of profiles and accounts.

The BBC reports that in 2019 data specialist David Stier concluded, after analyzing 200,000 accounts worldwide, that users under the age of 18 had the option of switching too easily to a professional account.

This type of account requires users to make their contact details public, which means that they are visible to everyone on the social network.

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