And so it is, folks. After getting my first email response from Facebook Support on March 19, I have finally received my download link, downloaded all of my data, and deleted my account.
Before last night, I was requesting a download of my data via a browser the entire time. But last night, I decided to download the app on my iPhone again and request the download there.
I received a link not an hour later.
The moral of the story? I dunno. I'm just glad Zuckerberg's not explicitly profiting off of my data anymore.
In my inaugural post, I said that I'd delete my Facebook and Instagram accounts. Well that was partially true. I deleted my Facebook account, and I triggered a request to download all my Instagram data before deleting my account.
On the third time, they finally sent me an email (via Facebook Support) on March 19, 2019 requesting further information of my request. I expected to receive a link for download within 48 hours of my request. It says on the request page:
We'll email you a link to a file with your photos, comments, profile information and more. We can only work on one request from your account at a time, and it may take up to 48 hours to collect this data and send it to you.
It's now March 27 and I still have not received a link. This, after following up with them an additional three times via email.
So I escalated to TrustArc, a privacy and security compliance company that Instagram has an agreement with.
We may resolve disputes you have with us in connection with our privacy policies and practices through TrustArc. You can contact TrustArc through its website.
They have deemed my complaint legitimate and now starts a 10-day countdown for Instagram to resolve my case and give me my fucking data, so that I can delete my account and move on.
All in all, this could take until April 9 (if weekends are excluded). A whole 16 business days. 48 fucking hours my ass.