At a glance
- Your Instagram Followers and Following lists
- The comparison between them
- Your saved scan results
- Your email address and sign-in codes
- Session and device records for paid access
- Your Instagram account ID and scan counts, to enforce the Free plan limit
- Basic usage events (installed, opened, scan started or finished)
- Subscription status (Pro)
- Optional uninstall survey answers
Free scans need no FollowerSpotter account and no email address. We do count scans against your Instagram account ID so the Free plan's scan limit can be enforced, and the extension sends a small set of usage events. Both are described below. None of it includes your Followers or Following lists.
How FollowerSpotter reaches Instagram
FollowerSpotter is a Chrome extension. When you start a scan while signed in to Instagram, the extension makes requests from your own browser to Instagram, using the session you already have open, to retrieve your Followers and Following lists.
To know which account is signed in, the extension reads the Instagram ds_user_id cookie locally. You never type your Instagram password into FollowerSpotter, and we never receive it.
What stays on your device
The comparison itself, working out which accounts you follow that don't follow you back, is calculated in your browser. Your Followers and Following lists and your scan results are not uploaded to FollowerSpotter's servers.
To let you reopen your most recent results, the extension may store your last completed scan and some interface state in Chrome's local extension storage. That data stays in your browser until you clear it or remove the extension. The extension includes a Clear local data option so you can wipe saved results whenever you like.
What our servers handle
Our servers handle three things: paid accounts, scan allowance and usage events, and the optional uninstall survey. For paid accounts, our authentication service may store:
- your email address and one-time sign-in code records,
- session information and device identifiers used to enforce device limits,
- subscription entitlement information, such as plan and relevant dates, and related security records.
Uninstall survey. If you remove the extension, you may be shown a short optional survey. If you submit it, we receive the reason you selected and any note you choose to write. The survey does not ask for your Instagram username or password, and you can close the page without answering.
We use account data to sign you in, provide Pro features, prevent abuse, and keep accounts secure. Pro uses an email verification code, so there is no FollowerSpotter password to create or leak.
Payments are handled by Creem on its hosted checkout. FollowerSpotter does not receive or store your full card details. We receive only what we need to know your subscription status.
This website is served by ordinary hosting infrastructure, which necessarily processes standard request information such as IP address, browser details, and request logs for security and delivery. We don't use the website to collect Instagram credentials.
Scan allowance and usage events
Scan allowance. Before a scan starts, the extension sends your Instagram numeric account ID (the ds_user_id value it reads locally), a random scan ID, and the extension version, so our server can check and record how many free scans you have used. When the scan ends, it reports how long it took and whether it completed, was cancelled, or failed.
Usage events. The extension also reports a short list of events: installed, opened, the upgrade button clicked, and a scan started, completed, failed, or cancelled. Each event carries a random event ID and the extension version. Scan events add the scan ID and duration, and Pro events add your device ID. Our server attaches an analytics identifier to these events.
Your Followers or Following lists, any usernames from them, your scan results, or your Instagram password. Only the fixed fields above leave your browser.
Authentication and subscription systems are separate from your Instagram relationship data. Signing in to Pro does not mean your follower lists reach our servers.
What we never do
- Ask for your Instagram password
- Upload or store your Followers or Following lists on our servers
- Mass-unfollow accounts for you
- Use the Instagram session already open in Chrome
- Compare the lists locally in your browser
- Show you the results and let you decide
Honest limits
FollowerSpotter is an independent product and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Instagram or Meta. Your use of Instagram remains subject to Instagram's own terms.
The scanner deliberately paces its requests and takes cooldowns to reduce the chance of Instagram rate-limiting your session. That lowers the risk; it can't promise Instagram will never push back, because Instagram controls its own limits and can change them. Here's how pacing works.
Check it yourself
You don't have to take our word for it. Chrome shows the permissions an extension requests on its Chrome Web Store listing and on chrome://extensions, and Chrome's developer tools let you inspect an extension's network activity.
Questions about privacy or security? Email support@followerspotter.com.