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Instagram Accused of Leaking Phone Numbers, Email Addresses

Silhouettes of mobile users are seen next to a screen projection of Instagram. (Reuters)
Silhouettes of mobile users are seen next to a screen projection of Instagram. (Reuters)
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Instagram Accused of Leaking Phone Numbers, Email Addresses

Silhouettes of mobile users are seen next to a screen projection of Instagram. (Reuters)
Silhouettes of mobile users are seen next to a screen projection of Instagram. (Reuters)

Instagram's website leaked user contact information, including phone numbers and email addresses, a researcher said, according to the CNET website.

Data scientists David Stier said that the source code for some Instagram user profiles included the account holder's contact information whenever it loaded in a web browser, adding that he notified Instagram shortly after he discovered the problem earlier this year, the German news agency reported.

The contact information wasn't displayed on the account holder's profiles on the desktop version of the Instagram website, although it was used by the photo sharing site's app for communication.

According to Stier, the exposure appeared to include contact information for thousands of accounts, which belonged to private, businesses and brands. Including the information in the source code could let hackers scrape the data from the Instagram website, allowing them to assemble a virtual phone book.

Instagram spokeswoman Stephanie Otway said: "The contact information discovered in this case is not private contact information, but contact information a member of the Instagram community chose to share when converting their profile to a Business Profile."

Stier said he found evidence that the phone numbers and emails had been in the source code since at least October by looking at archived versions of Instagram profiles.

He reported the problem to Instagram in February and the problem was fixed in March.

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Japan's 400,000-follower 'Insta-gran' Dies Aged 97

(FILES) This file picture taken on January 16, 2018 shows Kimiko Nishimoto posing next to a picture of her on the sliding window of her house in the western Japanese city of Kumamoto. (Photo by Behrouz MEHRI / AFP)
(FILES) This file picture taken on January 16, 2018 shows Kimiko Nishimoto posing next to a picture of her on the sliding window of her house in the western Japanese city of Kumamoto. (Photo by Behrouz MEHRI / AFP)
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Japan's 400,000-follower 'Insta-gran' Dies Aged 97

(FILES) This file picture taken on January 16, 2018 shows Kimiko Nishimoto posing next to a picture of her on the sliding window of her house in the western Japanese city of Kumamoto. (Photo by Behrouz MEHRI / AFP)
(FILES) This file picture taken on January 16, 2018 shows Kimiko Nishimoto posing next to a picture of her on the sliding window of her house in the western Japanese city of Kumamoto. (Photo by Behrouz MEHRI / AFP)

A Japanese great-grandmother with 400,000 Instagram followers who shot to fame for her goofy self-portraits after taking up photography aged 72 has died, her son said on Thursday.

Kimiko Nishimoto, who died this week at the age of 97, told AFP in a 2018 interview that "you can take photos no matter how old you get".

"Wherever it is, in your house, outside, or in your bed, you can do it. That is the nice thing about a camera," she said.

Dubbed the "selfie queen" by Japanese media, Nishimoto's posts showed her in various candid poses -- from riding a broom like Harry Potter to imitating an off-duty sumo wrestler on their fifth beer of the night.

"Our mother always created her work with a smile," a post from her son Kazutami Nishimoto said on her Instagram account.

"We are deeply grateful to everyone who visited her photography exhibitions held across the country, to those who shared warm words of encouragement through Instagram... and to all who supported her warmly throughout her journey."

Nishimoto's son teaches photography classes, which his mother started taking in retirement.

"Though she began photography at the age of 72, she was blessed with countless encounters, which enriched this third chapter of her life tremendously," he said.

Nishimoto appeared on national television as her online following grew and was interviewed by major news outlets.

But her more out-there visual scenarios were also the cause of some confusion over the years.

One snap -- showing her wrapped in a garbage bag, as if she had been discarded -- drew criticism from people who didn't know she was involved in its set-up.

"It's not like ideas just suddenly pop into my head but wherever I go I think about what it would be fun to dress up as in that place," she said in 2018.