: In 2019, a security flaw allowed users to find persistent URLs for private stories and posts by inspecting the "Network" tab while viewing their own feed or shared content. However, this did not allow viewing profiles you didn't already have access to, and Instagram has since implemented stricter controls.
While it can't bypass privacy settings, users do use the "Inspect" console for other Instagram-related tasks: Bypassing Login Pop-ups private instagram viewer inspect element top