Privacy issues in Snapchat

Another problem is since anyone can add each other online, so the app may be a carrier of violence and bawdiness, especially to children and young teenagers.[3] Since in most cases, the photos or videos would be deleted after sharing, nobody knows what your children see. So it would be a ‘excellent’ way to spread bad photos and videos. Unless the user try to save the image using build-in screen shot tool instead of third-party snapshot tool, according to privacy policy, the server would never save the photos or videos people sent.

For parents, there is no need to ban the usage of Snapchat of your children. The best way is to tell them the basic security and privacy principles of the internet, such as never share privacy online, no matter how security their services are. The basic rules of the internet is there is no privacy online and the most effective method to keep secret is not to share it online.

In conclusion, the privacy policy and some privacy problems of this app is discussed. Although this app is popular among young people, the issue is a little bit serious. The privacy protection is not as effective as the company claims, some third-party software can still save the screen capture easily without notifying the sender. So the best way to protect our privacy is to avoid sending these images. Every time a revolution occurs, there would be some problems and concerns. After resolving these problems, the good aspect starts to serve us.

Reference:

      [1]iTunes. (2015,Oct14). Snapchat, Inc.Retrieved from: 

                    https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/snapchat/id447188370?mt=8

      [2]Snapchat, Inc. (2014, Nov 17). Privacy Policy. Retrieved from: 

                    https://www.snapchat.com/privacy

      [3]Common Sense Media. (2015). Retrieved from: 

                    https://www.commonsensemedia.org/app-reviews/snapchat#

      [4]Magid. L. (2013, May 1). What is Snapchat and Why D Kids Love It and Parents Fear It?      (updated). Retrieved from: 

                    http://www.forbes.com/sites/larrymagid/2013/05/01/what-is-snapchat-and-why-do-kids-   love-it-and-parents-fear-it/

Privacy issues in Snapchat

The company claimed that the sender would be notified if the recipient captured a screen shot when he/she is watching the video or photo. However, some third-party applications can save the screen shot easily without giving alert to the sender. Also, the user can buy up to 20 pieces of replays of storage.[3] Even if the images are deleted, the information could still be recovered like the PC hard drive do.[4] When you delete a file from the recycle bin, the information of this file is still remain on the hard drive, some recovery software can read these information and recover the file precisely if the hard drive is not damaged. That’s the reason why we need a file shredder. It covers the file several times on the hard drive with meaningless information to prevent some specific software to recover the file. When a user sends a video to his/her friend, what he/she expect is that the video would disappear after his/her friend viewing the video. But the truth may be that his/her friend paid $5.79 and saved his/her video without his/her permission. So, the company remind their users that do not share the photos or videos which you do not want other people to save. As long as an electronic device is connected to the internet, it is exposed to hackers, trojans, spywares and other kinds of tracking technologies. Even if the user has some protection solutions, they just reduce the chance of privacy problems and it never prevents the risk. So, it is suggested that in order to keep privacy secret, it’s better not to send it online and it is the most efficient and safe solution.

Reference:

      [1]iTunes. (2015,Oct14). Snapchat, Inc.Retrieved from: 

                    https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/snapchat/id447188370?mt=8

      [2]Snapchat, Inc. (2014, Nov 17). Privacy Policy. Retrieved from: 

                    https://www.snapchat.com/privacy

      [3]Common Sense Media. (2015). Retrieved from: 

                    https://www.commonsensemedia.org/app-reviews/snapchat#

      [4]Magid. L. (2013, May 1). What is Snapchat and Why D Kids Love It and Parents Fear It?      (updated). Retrieved from: 

                     http://www.forbes.com/sites/larrymagid/2013/05/01/what-is-snapchat-and-why-do-kids-   love-it-and-parents-fear-it/

Privacy issues in Snapchat

According to the privacy policy, the purpose of collecting these information is to improve their service. The improvements they want to provide are stated as follows:

Ø  These information is collected to improve their products to meet the requirement of their users and send them some related information. These information may contain some potential usage customs that give the developers ideas to add some new functions.

Ø  The company try to communicate with their customers for their questions and comments and some technical and security notices.

Ø  The company also collect the information to monitor the trends and usage of their products for future analysis, but the type of analysis was not mentioned.

Ø  The company collect the information to improve their products and their services, including fixing BUGs and adding new functions to the software.

Ø  The information is also collected for pushing ads to their customers. The types of ads depend on what every individual customer is interested in.

Ø  Last but not least, the information is collected for security purposes. The company would verify the identity of every individual users to avoid illegal activities, such as fraud and cheat.[2]

Reference:

      [1]iTunes. (2015,Oct14). Snapchat, Inc.Retrieved from: 

                    https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/snapchat/id447188370?mt=8

      [2]Snapchat, Inc. (2014, Nov 17). Privacy Policy. Retrieved from: 

                    https://www.snapchat.com/privacy

      [3]Common Sense Media. (2015). Retrieved from: 

                    https://www.commonsensemedia.org/app-reviews/snapchat#

      [4]Magid. L. (2013, May 1). What is Snapchat and Why D Kids Love It and Parents Fear It?      (updated). Retrieved from: 

                    http://www.forbes.com/sites/larrymagid/2013/05/01/what-is-snapchat-and-why-do-kids-   love-it-and-parents-fear-it/
      Twitter, Inc. (2015, Sep 15). What to replay a Snapchat Message? Fast Compony. Retrieved from: 
                    https://twitter.com/fastcompany/status/643905899703046144

Privacy issues in Snapchat

The contact book and albums of the device would be collected as well. This app would scan the users’ contact books and albums to connect their customers with their friends. But the user could change the setting on the device to whether allow or deny this information collecting process.

The company would also collect the location information of their users. According to privacy policy, the location information is used to filter messages which would send to the users. However, the user would be notified if this app is allowed to access the user’s location while he/she is not using it. I personally suggest to disable this function because it would create some safety problems.

Then this app would use cookies to collect information as some websites do. Cookies are small piece of data which contains the user’s online surfing or using information, such as log-in name and password. But if the user do not want to be tracked, just simply delete the cookies will work.

Last but not least, the information of website the user visit would be monitored as well. It includes but not limited to preferred web browser, preferred languages, time, pages and IP address. This process is silent and the user would not be notified.[2]

Reference:

      [1]iTunes. (2015,Oct14). Snapchat, Inc.Retrieved from: 

                    https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/snapchat/id447188370?mt=8

      [2]Snapchat, Inc. (2014, Nov 17). Privacy Policy. Retrieved from: 

                    https://www.snapchat.com/privacy

      [3]Common Sense Media. (2015). Retrieved from: 

                    https://www.commonsensemedia.org/app-reviews/snapchat#

      [4]Magid. L. (2013, May 1). What is Snapchat and Why D Kids Love It and Parents Fear It?      (updated). Retrieved from: 

                    http://www.forbes.com/sites/larrymagid/2013/05/01/what-is-snapchat-and-why-do-kids-   love-it-and-parents-fear-it/