Question Does Instagram/Facebook Know Your MAC Address and if so, can they hide profiles from you?

[justinlamotte2]

Hey guys, I asked this question on reddit, it was pretty much a section of the website where you can ask people who know about internet privacy and stuff.

I would like a second opinion as I know a lot of people online like to fear monger, especially when it comes to subjects such as this and that is why I am here.

Anyways, I asked if Instagram/Facebook knows your MAC address and if so, can they hide profiles from you? I ask this because I have been looking for a certain profile on Instagram which I am pretty sure exists with no luck, but I can't say with 100% certainty that it exists, but I have a good hunch about it.

I got a reply from a certain person and he stated that once you install apps like Instagram onto your phone they are able to access your phones MAC address and all the other devices you use on the same Network including your PC, router or any other devices I use on my household which is very troubling news to say the least.

Of course I am asking here because this has always been a topic with mixed opinions as people have also stated that websites like Facebook don't have access to your MAC address, only your IP address because MAC address are only accessible in your local network and not outside it.

I should also note that I have been using a browser called TOR based on privacy to see if I can see if I can find this profile with no luck either, so I feel what this person told me could be true. I just wanted your guys opinion on it and do you think it's possible for websites to know everything you are doing on all your devices in your household.

I have also heard of a thing called browser fingerprinting which I also hear that FB has a reputation of so that could also be in play too, but of course that also leads to another question if FB/IG have the ability to hide profiles from you altogether because I could be just being paranoid about all this.

Anyways, any replies would be greatly appreciated and if you need more information, I can link you guys with the recent reddit topic I posted to show you more what this guy said to me. You may find it really interesting.

 

[USAFRet]

Can an application read and know your MAC address?
In theory, yes.

Is that of any use to them?
No.

The whole network thing is built on Layers. The OSI model.
A MAC address is only useful within a local network.
Your router or switch knows the MAC addresses of devices that are attached. It needs to know this, so it knows how to move the data around.

An outside entity does not use the MAC address. "Facebook" talks to an IP address...your router. The router than talks to a MAC address, your PC or phone.

https://www.forcepoint.com/cyber-edu/osi-model

the ability to hide profiles from you

Not sure what you mean by this.

If you are looking for account A...how and why should instagram hide that from you?
And that 'ability' would not be based on a MAC address.

 

[justinlamotte2]

Can an application read and know your MAC address?
In theory, yes.

Is that of any use to them?
No.

The whole network thing is built on Layers. The OSI model.
A MAC address is only useful within a local network.
Your router or switch knows the MAC addresses of devices that are attached. It needs to know this, so it knows how to move the data around.

An outside entity does not use the MAC address. "Facebook" talks to an IP address...your router. The router than talks to a MAC address, your PC or phone.

https://www.forcepoint.com/cyber-edu/osi-model



Not sure what you mean by this.

If you are looking for account A...how and why should instagram hide that from you?
And that 'ability' would not be based on a MAC address.

Thank you for your reply. I should explain more, but it would take ages to type all out so I will just go ahead and give you guys the link of the reddit topic.

View: https://www.reddit.com/r/privacy/comments/mtsrby/does_instagramfacebook_know_your_mac_address_and/


The guy explains about a thing called "ARP" I believe it's called Address Resolution Protocol and as you can see from this topic. He explains to me that apps like Facebook knows everything you are doing on any device on my network using this... which I found quite disturbing. I wanted to hear your thoughts about it.

It's like I said when it comes to the profile, I have been looking for this particular account on Instagram which I believe exists with some evidence (perhaps speculation) with not much luck. Even using TOR browser without Javascript turned off using Instagram web viewers.

Of course with javascript turned off, the options are very limited since you need to use javascript literally all the time when browsing Instagram or any Instagram web viewer, but using javascript on TOR is literally just the same as using a normal web browser like Chrome, FIrefox... etc. Look at me, go ahead and get all my information.

Anyways, if you go to the link, you will see the full conversation and I just wanted a second opinion on what this guy told me and do you believe what he says. Thank you!