When logging onto Instagram, TikTok or other social media, the illusion of privacy is gone. Despite having private accounts or disabling targeting cookies, many know that their data can be tracked. But with each little update, subtle, privacy-invading features have been added right under our noses. Most recently in Instagram's direct messages (DMs).
The announcement came in the week of March 13-17 from Meta, Instagram's parent company. The end-to-end encryption option (E2EE) for Insatgram DMs will be removed on May 8, 2026. E2EE is a process of communication that encrypts data as it is sent from sender to recipient. It is used on most messaging platforms, and it protects messages from unauthorized access.
The last update from Meta came in December 2025, with the addition of Meta AI to personalize content, ads and creator recommendations. The Meta AI summarizer has also been added to DMs to help you sum up what you've missed, sitting on your screen as a glowing blue and purple orb. This feature is also new on other apps such as iMessages and other messaging platforms.
As our technology becomes more and more monitored, it becomes difficult to keep up with constantly evolving privacy laws. Students have to remain vigilant as new privacy policies are issued and try to keep up with how their data is used and monitored. Information science senior Andrew Hott does his best to keep up.
"When it’s made clear that I’m sharing data, I usually try to opt out or consider alternative services. The challenge is that many of these services and platforms feel essential or are more popular than the alternatives. As a result, I often find myself continuing to use the same services despite their data collection and privacy practices," Hott said. "I think both myself and many others tend to just accept that our data is being collected and used for other purposes and have become increasingly comfortable with it. This has led to a level of resignation even when there are ethical concerns about privacy and consent."
But some have not been as comfortable with the amount of changes being made, especially since AI has come into the picture. These changes have been reminiscent of the events warned about in popular dystopian novels such as "Fahrenheit 451" and "1984."
International relations sophomore Grace Sliwka related the AI summaries and increased technological surveillance to when she read dystopian works in high school.
"Ray Bradbury (author of 'Fahrenheit 451') showed me a world where people stopped reading because they preferred speed over substance, and today, when summaries and shortcuts often seem to replace actual books, many students adapt these practices for the simple ease of it. This trade-off of critical thought for convenience will have consequential effects on the function of society because people just won’t think for themselves anymore," Sliwka said.
Along with the loss of free thinking, Sliwka worries about exactly how her data is used.
"George Orwell (author of '1984') portrayed a society obsessed with surveillance, and today schools and social media track practically everything: attendance, keystrokes, location data, search histories and who knows what else. I would assume many students don’t realize how much data is actually being collected," Sliwka said. "Both dystopias ('Fahrenheit 451' and '1984') predicted different sides of a modern reality that seems to only continue to grow darker. It’s deeply troubling to watch a culture shift where attention is so fragmented, privacy is near impossible and technology is quietly but profoundly reshaping daily life and the structure of humanity."
