Privacy, visibility and safety
You want to know what strangers can see, or you want a specific person to stop reaching you.
What is public by default, what hiding an account changes, and how blocking, restricting and reporting differ in what they actually do.
Guides
Worked through end to end. Start here if you want to understand the subject rather than fix one thing.
- Who can see your profileWhat is public by default, what a hidden account actually changes, and how to check your own visibility rather than assume it.5 min read
- Blocking, restricting and reportingThree different tools for three different problems — what each one does, what the other person can tell, and when to use which.5 min read
Answers
One question, one answer. Start here if you already know what you need.
- Reporting a security problemHow to report a vulnerability, what happens next, and what we ask researchers to avoid while testing.
- Who can see what you shareWhat is public by default, what each sharing surface actually reaches, and how to check rather than assume.
- Reporting, blocking and appealsThree tools for three different problems, plus what to do if you think a decision about your account was wrong.
- What you can and cannot saveThe boundary the downloader enforces, why private content cannot be retrieved, and what saving a file does and does not permit.
- When a link will not downloadThe handful of reasons a paste fails — private and region-locked posts, removed videos, unsupported links and rate limits — and which of them you can do something about.
Definitions
The words this subject assumes you already know.
- Public postA post anyone can open without signing in or being approved. It is the boundary for what can be saved: private, follower-only, deleted and expired content cannot be retrieved by any tool.
- Hidden accountAn account whose profile and posts are narrowed to friends. It is a visibility choice you make and reverse at will — distinct from suspension, which is an enforcement action taken about an account.