In the Instagram API how to access basic user information for 'Private Users'?

Question

I don't really understand why instagram api prohibits access to information public in 'private users' (#counts, #username,#profile picture)

This works well for public users but for private users returns:

{ "meta": { "code":400, "error_message":"you cannot view this resource", "error_type":"APINotAllowedError" } }

help! thanks

Answer 1

They are called Private users as their information cannot be accessed, there is no way using the API you can do that.