CAVEAT/CORRECTION
@Misofist has pointed out that I probably misinterpreted something in this video; that the upload is done after you pick the photo, but before you post. I think the Facebook UI reflects this by putting in a placeholder and then updating it once the upload is done. I don't believe Instagram has a similar indication, but the video does say it happens while typing the caption. So you could reasonably argue that you have given implied consent for an upload, even if the convention is to wait for the button press.
My apologies for fanning the flames (however well-deserved) against Meta.
For many years I've believed that Facebook and Instagram were secretly downloading phone photos in the background. Because when you go to post a photo, it gets sent far too quickly to have done a download at the same time.
Yesterday I found this video from an Instagram founder, and damned if I wasn't right.
It doesn't appear to be all photos, just the most recent one (ones?). It's not clear from the video if it happens when you launch the app, or when you hit compose. They're doing it on the assumption you're about to post some recent photos. They claim it's okay because if you don't post it, they delete it.
That's classic Meta self-serving bullshit. The "Yeah, it's wrong, but it's okay because we're Meta and we're smart" excuse they always use.
It is not okay to upload my photos without my explicit consent. It's not okay to chew up my bandwidth when I may be deliberately trying to keep it low. IANL, but that first, frankly, sounds like class action material.
It doesn't matter that they claim to delete it. They just introduced a privacy risk. That could have been a nude of my spouse. That could have been a photo of my kid I was sending to my doctor. That could have been a photo of a contract I'm not allowed to share. All to save a few seconds they can brag about.
When Apple allowed you to selectively make photos available to app, I turned the feature on for Meta apps. This makes posting photos a pain, because Meta doesn't uses Apple's UI for choosing which photos they can see and selecting them at the same time. It's a multistep process and it isn't obvious how to do it. Ironically, it means that I rarely post to Instagram anymore. A fact that just reinforces my belief that Meta really wants full photo access and deliberately isn't fixing the issue.
