Things you Must Know About Snapchat
Snapchat is one of the famous apps in mobile for image sharing, but with a twist: photos have to be taken in-app and last only from 1-10 seconds, at the sender’s discretion. From middle schoolers to the New York Times to Catholic youth minister blogs; everyone seems to be talking about it.
However, they seem to be more fascinated with the fact that this exists rather than the important information Snapchat users should actually know. So I’ve done some digging, and here are 6 things you, and every other Snapchat user you know, should be aware of.
(Note: I am also a Snapchatter, so I don’t write this to call them out or condemn them in any way. I just love to cover depth in technology, and I think others should too. Knowledge is, after all, power. Right? Right, Let’s get started.
How Snapchat Actually Collects Information About You, and How They Store it
“We collect information you provide directly to us. For example, we collect information when you create an account, use the Services to send or receive a message (a “Snap”), request customer support or otherwise communicate with us. The types of information we may collect include your username, password, email address, phone number, age and any other information you choose to provide. When you send or receive Snaps, we also temporarily collect, process and store the contents of the Snaps (such as photos, videos and/or captions) on our servers. The contents of Snaps are also temporarily stored on the devices of recipients.
Once all recipients have viewed a Snap, we automatically delete the Snap from our servers and the Snapchat mobile application is programmed to delete the Snap from the recipients’ devices. We cannot guarantee that deletion always occurs within a particular timeframe.” (source)
So this snippet is pretty self-explanatory. Of course, the snaps themselves have to go through Snapchat’s servers, where, upon received, they send a notification to all of those who are eligible to view it (the recipients). According to this statement within their Privacy Policy, the snaps are deleted from both the servers and the mobile devices. Ok, phew. But wait, not so fast.
Snapchat Admits there are Ways Around their ‘Deleted’ Images
Two separate quotes here.
“In addition, as for any other digital information, there may be ways to access Snaps while still in temporary storage on recipients’ devices or, forensically, even after they are deleted.”
And another from their blog:
“Also, if you’ve ever tried to recover lost data after accidentally deleting a drive or maybe watched an episode of CSI, you might know that with the right forensic tools, it’s sometimes possible to retrieve data after it has been deleted.”
If you’re a tech person you probably saw this coming. Nothing is ever, truly deleted on a server. This is where all of those people arguing that Snapchat is “100% safe” are wrong. Especially when Snapchat says in their Privacy Policy that they may share their information about you “in response to legal process or request for information…”, amongst other reasons.
The Other Reasons for Snapchat Sharing Your Information
The full list is here, in their Privacy Policy. Check out the third and fifth in the ‘Sharing of Information’ section. Since I’m neither a lawyer nor an expert on Terms of Use-phrasing, I can only point these out because they catch my eye.
The third: “[We may share information about you] with vendors, consultants and other service providers who need access to such information to carry out work on our behalf.” Vendors? Consultants? Snapchat is simple enough to be run by a small team, what work do you need to be done on your behalf/Who is doing it?”
The fifth: “[We may share information about you] in order to investigate or remedy potential violations of our user agreements or policies…” I don’t think they are looking at the actual snaps that are sent. However, it seems to me like the only way to actually investigate if someone is violating the user agreements
Previously Snapchat has a complaint in the Federal Trade Commission for “Deceptive Business Practices”
Just this past May, a Washington DC-based public interest research center called EPIC (Electronic Privacy Information Center) filed a complaint against Snapchat with the Federal Trade Commission on the grounds that they aren’t being truthful in their statements about deleting the images. Or, what they call “deceptive business practices.” EPIC released a short statement on their website, but you can read the entire, official complaint here. Make of this what you will, but EPIC is legit.
What More Information Snapchat is collecting?
Snapchat privacy policy explains what they are getting from you. When you use Snapchat, company collect information about which of those services you’ve used and how you’ve used them. They might know, for instance, that you watched a particular Live Story, saw a specific ad for a certain period of time, and sent a few Snaps to friends.They collect information about your activity through our services. For example, we may collect information about:
How you interact with the services, such as which filters you view or apply to Snaps, which channels you watch on Discover, or which search queries you submit.
How you communicate with other Snapchatters, such as their names, the time and date of your communications, the number of messages you exchange with your friends, which friends you exchange messages with the most, and your interactions with messages (such as when you open a message or capture a screenshot).
Your Content Information
They collect information about the content you provide, such as if the recipient has viewed the content, replayed the content, and the metadata that is provided with the content.
Snapchat also Collects your Device Information
They collect device-specific information, such as the hardware model, operating system version, advertising identifier, unique application identifiers, unique device identifiers, browser type, language, wireless network, and mobile network information (including the mobile phone number).
Snapchat also Access Your Device Phonebook
Because Snapchat is all about communicating with friends, they may—with your consent—collect information from your device’s phonebook.
Snapchat also Collect Device’s Camera Photos
Many of Snapchat services require them to collect images and other information from your device’s camera and photos. They’ll access your camera and photos only after you give them your consent.
Snapchat also Access Your Location
When you use Snapchat they may collect information about your location. With your consent, they may also collect information about your precise location using methods that include GPS, wireless networks, cell towers, Wi-Fi access points, and other sensors, such as gyroscopes, accelerometers, and compasses.
Information Collected by Cookies and Other Technologies
Like most online services and mobile applications, we may use cookies and other technologies, such as web beacons, web storage, and unique advertising identifiers, to collect information about your activity, browser, and device.
Log Information
- We also collect log information when you use our website. That information includes, among other things:
- Details about how you’ve used our services
- Device information, such as your web browser type and language
- Access times
- Pages viewed
- IP address
- Identifiers associated with cookies or other technologies that may uniquely identify your device or browser
- Pages you visited before or after navigating to our website.
Someone is Already Making Money Out of Snapchat Retrievals
Almost every tech company is selling its users data or by using data selling ads own self. Mashable reported about a Utah-based technology company called Decipher Forensics. They’ve even written a blog post about their research into retrieving Snapchats from Android.
This is my list, given my Internet research. I’ll update it once I have new information. If you see something that should be added to this list and I’ll revise accordingly. In any way, exercise your Snapchatting with caution.
Also Read: About Distributed Search Engine on Wikipedia.
Also Read: About Distributed Search Engine on Wikipedia.