Armagh Cricket Club: Your Instagram Privacy & Security Guide
A practical guide for all club members, junior parents, and the wider ACC community
Armagh Cricket Club: Your Instagram Privacy & Security Guide
A practical guide for all club members, junior parents, and the wider ACC community
Instagram is one of the most widely used social media platforms among our club community - sharing photos and personal moments there every day.
However Instagram’s default privacy settings leave most accounts far more exposed than their owners realise. And this week (July 2026), that exposure became significantly more serious with the launch of Meta’s new Muse Image AI tool - which we cover in detail below.
Working through this guide takes less than fifteen minutes but could make a significant difference to your privacy and security online.
Published: July 2026 - Updated as new information becomes available.
📋 Armagh CC Instagram Security & Privacy Checklist
🔵 Setting 1 - Turn On Two-Factor Authentication
The single most important Instagram security step - identical in principle to our WhatsApp and Facebook guides.
Two-factor authentication means that even if someone obtains your password, they cannot log into your Instagram account without a second verification step - usually a code sent to your phone. Without it, a stolen password is all someone needs to take over your account completely.
📱 Settings → Accounts Centre → Password and Security → Two-factor authentication → select your account → choose your preferred method
Choose text message verification for the simplest option, or an authenticator app for stronger protection.
⚠️ Once enabled, keep your phone accessible when logging in from a new device - you will need it to verify your identity.
🔵 Setting 2 - ⚠️ Opt Out of Meta’s Muse Image AI Tool - Do This First
This is the most urgent setting in this guide. Act on it today.
On 7th July 2026, Meta launched a new AI image generation tool called Muse Image. By default, if your Instagram account is public, anyone in the world can type your username into the Meta AI app and generate entirely new AI images using your photos - without asking your permission and without notifying you.
This means a complete stranger can create realistic AI-generated images of you and share them anywhere online. You will not be told it has happened. Meta has buried the opt-out setting deep in the app rather than making it clearly visible.
How to opt out:
📱 Profile → three lines menu (top right) → Sharing and reuse → toggle off both Posts and Reels under “Allow people to use your content on Instagram and with AI features at Meta”
⚠️ Critical limitations to understand:
Opting out only stops future AI image generation - any images already created using your photos before you change this setting cannot be removed
The setting is still rolling out and may not be visible on all accounts yet - keep checking if you cannot find it
The only way to guarantee complete protection is to switch your account to private
Accounts belonging to under-18s are automatically excluded from this feature - but parents should still check their own accounts
🔵 Setting 3 - Review Your Account Privacy
Public or private - understand what each means for your security.
A public Instagram account means anyone - whether they follow you or not - can see every photo, video, and story you post. A private account means only people you approve can see your content.
Switching to private is the single most effective privacy step available on Instagram. It also automatically excludes your account from the Muse Image AI tool described above.
📱 Settings → Privacy → Account Privacy → toggle on Private Account
⚠️ Switching to private means your existing followers can still see your content, but new followers must be approved by you first.
🔵 Setting 4 - Control Who Can Find You
Limits strangers from discovering your profile.
By default Instagram allows people to find your account using your phone number or email address, and allows search engines to display your profile in results.
📱 Settings → Privacy
Phone number discoverability: Settings → Accounts Centre → Personal details → Contact info → review who can find you by phone number
Email discoverability: Same path as above for email address
Search engine visibility is reduced automatically when you switch to a private account
🔵 Setting 5 - Manage Your Story and Post Sharing
Controls who can share your content beyond your followers.
By default, other Instagram users can share your posts and stories to their own accounts or to direct messages. This can spread your images and content well beyond your intended audience.
📱 Settings → Privacy → Story → toggle off “Allow Resharing to Stories”
📱 Settings → Privacy → Posts → toggle off “Allow others to share your posts to their Stories”
⭐ These settings work alongside the Muse Image opt-out in Setting 2 - use both together for maximum content protection.
🔵 Setting 6 - Review Your Close Friends and Followers Lists
A quick but worthwhile regular check.
Over time most Instagram accounts accumulate followers they have forgotten about or no longer know personally. A regular review of your followers list - particularly for public accounts - is worth doing every few months.
📱 Profile → Followers → review and remove anyone you do not recognise or no longer wish to follow you
You can remove a follower without blocking them by tapping the three dots next to their name and selecting “Remove.”
⚠️ Removed followers are not notified - but they can send a new follow request if your account is public.
🔵 Setting 7 - Control Direct Message Requests
Limits who can send you unsolicited messages.
By default, people who do not follow you can send you message requests on Instagram. Restricting this reduces unwanted contact.
📱 Settings → Privacy → Messages → under “Message requests” select “People you follow” or “No one” depending on your preference
⚠️ This does not affect messages from people you already follow - only new incoming requests from strangers.
🔵 Setting 8 - Review Tagged Photos and Mentions
Controls what appears on your profile without your approval.
By default, anyone can tag you in their photos and posts, and those tags appear on your profile automatically. Switching to manual approval means you review each tag before it appears publicly on your profile.
📱 Settings → Privacy → Tags → toggle on “Manually Approve Tags”
📱 Settings → Privacy → Mentions → select “People you follow” to limit who can mention your username in posts and stories
🔵 Setting 9 - Check Which Third-Party Apps Have Access
Remove apps that no longer need access to your Instagram account.
Many apps request Instagram access during setup and retain it indefinitely - even if you stopped using them years ago. Reviewing and removing unnecessary app access is a simple but worthwhile security step.
📱 Settings → Accounts Centre → Your information and permissions → Apps and websites → review and remove any app you no longer use or do not recognise
⚠️ Removing an app’s Instagram access does not delete your account with that app - it only disconnects it from Instagram.
🔵 Setting 10 - Lock Instagram With Face ID or Fingerprint
Essential if you ever hand your phone to someone else.
Instagram can be locked behind your phone’s biometric security so that even if someone picks up your unlocked phone, they cannot open the app without your face or fingerprint.
📱 Settings → Privacy → Use Face ID / Use Touch ID → toggle on
⭐ Particularly worth enabling if you have private messages or personal content you would not want others to access.
A Special Note for Parents of Junior Players
Instagram’s minimum age is 13. Accounts belonging to users under 18 are automatically excluded from the Muse Image AI tool - but this relies on the birth date entered when the account was created being accurate.
If your child uses Instagram, it is worth:
Checking their account is set to private
Reviewing their followers list together
Discussing what is and is not appropriate to post publicly
Ensuring their birth date on the account is accurate so Meta’s under-18 protections apply correctly
A Final Word
Instagram can be a brilliant way to share cricket memories, follow the club, and stay connected with teammates. But the default settings - particularly following this week’s Muse Image launch - leave most accounts more exposed than their owners realise.
Working through this checklist takes less than fifteen minutes. Please do it today - and share this guide with anyone in the club community who uses Instagram.
Stay safe online - and we’ll see you at The Mall! 🏏
Disclaimer
Please note that Instagram settings, menu locations, and available features may vary depending on your device, operating system, and the version of the Instagram app you have installed. The steps outlined in this guide are accurate at the time of publication but may change as Instagram and Meta update their apps. Armagh Cricket Club accepts no responsibility for any changes to Instagram’s settings or features that occur after publication.
This guide is provided for informational purposes only. For the most up to date security advice, visit Instagram’s official Help Centre at help.instagram.com
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