Privacy Policy

1. The short version

This site is a static website. It has no backend database, so there is nothing for us to store about the Instagram accounts you look up. The username you type is used once, in your own browser, and then forgotten.

The only things stored on your device are: the free-download counter, a small cache of recently viewed avatars, and — if you choose to sign in — your Google profile name, email address and avatar. All of it lives in your browser's localStorage and never reaches our servers.

2. What we collect

2.1 Data we do NOT collect

• Your Instagram username or the profiles you look up.
• The profile pictures you download.
• Your IP address as a separate stored record (our host provider may log it transiently for security, as every web host does).
• Any content from your Instagram account, direct messages or private profile data.

2.2 Data stored on your device only

• Free-download counter — an integer in localStorage used to enforce “one free download, then sign in”.
• Avatar cache — the last few resolved avatar URLs, so repeat lookups are instant.
• Recently used usernames — up to 8 entries, shown as clickable chips.
• Ad-block acknowledgement — a timestamp recording that you dismissed our notice.

Clearing your browser's site data removes all of it permanently. We cannot recover it because we never received it.

2.3 Data created by third parties

• Google AdSense — serves the ads that fund this site. Google and its partners may use cookies and device identifiers to personalise ads based on your prior activity. Google’s ad policies.
• Google Analytics — optional, currently disabled. Anonymised page views only.
• Google Sign-In (Firebase Authentication) — only used if you press “Continue with Google”. It returns your display name, email address and profile photo URL. We use them solely to identify your account.
• Request relays — lookups travel through third-party CORS proxies (or your own relay) which necessarily see the Instagram URL being requested. They do not receive any data about you beyond your IP address.

3. How the avatar lookup works

When you press Download, your browser requests https://instagram.com/YOUR_USERNAME replaying your own user-agent and Accept-Language headers. Because the page is served statically, the request passes through a CORS relay so a page can read the response. Each relay is a third-party service that sees the requested URL and your IP address; the relay’s own privacy policy applies.

We do not control those relays, we do not log what you look up, and we never re-publish the returned markup.

4. Cookies and local storage

We set no tracking cookies of our own. Google AdSense may set its own if you do not block it. The counters and caches described above are localStorage entries, not cookies, and are readable and removable by you at any time from your browser settings.

5. Children

This service is not directed at children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has sent us personal data, contact us and we will delete it.

6. Your rights

• Access — everything about you lives on your device or with Google. We have nothing to hand over.
• Deletion — clear site data in your browser, and if you signed in with Google, delete your session from the account menu.
• Objection / opt-out — use Google My Ad Center to opt out of personalised ads, or block ads entirely on this domain.

7. Data retention

• Username lookups: never retained.
• localStorage counters/cache: until you clear them.
• Google Sign-In data: held by Google per their policy; we store only the returned profile until you sign out.
• Ad statistics: handled by Google under their own retention policy.

8. Security

The site is served over HTTPS only. There is no database to breach and no user content to lose. Third-party components (AdSense, Firebase, relays) carry their own risk profiles.

9. Changes to this policy

If we change this policy materially we will update the date at the top of this page and, for significant changes, add a notice on the homepage.

10. Contact

Questions about privacy? Write to hello@instasnap.example.com or use the contact page.