The creepy Instagram app that lets you spy on your neighbours

'Instagram users – and their parents, no doubt – are sure to find the app unsettling'

'Instagram users  and their parents, no doubt  are sure to find the app unsettling'

Ever wondered what your neighbours get up to behind closed doors? A new mobile app might give you some insight.

Look Around, an Android app listed on Google Play, allows users to see all the photos posted by Instagram users within 5 km from their location.

The app, which had been installed between 500 and 1,000 times at the time of writing, carries an impressive 4.7 out of 5 user rating.

While the app’s developer, Andrea Bosoni, pitches his product as a way of finding out about an ‘unmissable party’, restaurant or monument nearby, the more nosy neighbours will spot an opportunity to spy into the lives of those around them.

The product description reads: ‘Login with your Instagram account, set the distance of the photos you want to see and that’s it: you will find on your screen all the photos posted around you!’

>See also: Facebook DOES collect the text you decided against posting

Instagram users – and their parents, no doubt – are sure to find the app unsettling, particularly those who post more intimate insights into their lives.

The photo-sharing service boasts 300 million active users each month – with an average of 70 million photos posted every day – and has contributed significantly to today’s selfie culture.

Information Age has contacted Instagram for comment.

Facebook, which bought Instagram for $1 billion in 2012, had its own privacy credentials questioned last week when a tech consultant discovered it collects all content that is typed into its website – even if it is not posted.

After inspecting Facebook’s network traffic, Príomh Ó hÚigínn found that a HTTP post request was sent to the company each time he wrote out a status, containing the exact text he entered.

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