How Mysterious Is Snapchat's Privacy?

The topic we are going to research is how Snapchat is invading their users privacy. Snapchat is an app that allows its users to send pictures or videos to other users that the recipient can only view for, at most, 10 seconds. As avid users of Snapchat, we realized how little we know about what this app does with our information once it “disappears”. We are interested in this topic because we want to find out what information we are giving away by using Snapchat, and also why so many people, like ourselves, are so willing to use this app without even knowing what information is being given up.

After a quick search on the topic we have already found that by within their terms and conditions that most people never actually read, Snapchat claims the rights to any of the content users decide to put on the app. This means Snapchat has the right to all pictures and videos that have been sent, and even user’s voices in the audio of the videos.1 This got us to start thinking, if they own the rights to the content uploaded then they don’t actually disappear after ten seconds. Just because we no longer have access to it, does not mean someone else doesn’t.

Instead of having all one’s information openly out on the Internet, the information seems contained within the app. Other people are only able to find users by their specific username, snapcode or a phone number if the user decides to connect the number to their profile. Snapchat even tells you other people that have added you. At first glance, it seems that user’s information is only shared with the people they decide to share it with. We think this topic is important and interesting to others because is a misconception of the privacy of one’s