Things in CommonBack

System document 04

What we ask Instagram for

Things in Common gives you a finite daily list of people worth spending time with on Instagram, then sends you to Instagram to talk to them yourself. To do that it needs to read your own account and the comments on your own posts. Nothing else.

Discover also offers a separate, optional public-web search. It uses only the topic you type, does not require another Instagram permission, and labels every result with its source. It does not scrape Instagram or treat a web result as an observed relationship.

The permissions, one by one

instagram_business_basic

Identify the connected account and read its own posts: username, account type, profile picture, captions, permalinks, timestamps, like and comment counts.

To show you your own posts inside your daily list and to link you back to them on Instagram.

instagram_business_manage_comments

Read the comments and replies left on the connected account's own posts, including the username of the person who wrote them.

To remember who talks to you, how often, and how long ago, so we can tell you who is worth spending time with today. We never post, reply, hide or delete a comment.

How the app uses it, step by step

  1. You create an account with your email and sign in.
  2. You press Connect Instagram and authorise your own professional account through Instagram’s official login. We never see or ask for your Instagram password.
  3. We read your own posts and the comments on them, and store who commented, when, and how often.
  4. Your Inbox shows up to ten things to do, each one with a plain reason. Opening an item takes you to Instagram, where you reply in your own words.
  5. Each item clears as you complete it. At zero, you may request another finite set.

What we never do

  • We never post, comment, like, follow or send a message on your behalf.
  • We never scrape Instagram. Everything comes from Meta’s official API.
  • We never sell your data, share it with advertisers, or use it to train models.
  • We never read your followers, your private messages, your stories, or anybody else’s account.

Requirements

A professional Instagram account (Creator or Business) is required, because Meta’s official API does not support personal accounts. You can switch in Instagram’s account settings at any time.

You can remove our access whenever you like: see Delete your data.