Snapchat Privacy: Zero

Snapchat: The logo of a ghost is used for all Snapchat application users. The application enables its users to send a picture for a chosen amount of time. (Image from Wikimedia Commons)

Snapchat, known for its visual communication, has just been under the limelight recently. Among other social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, Snapchat has been rising in popularity due to the concept that you can send a photo to your friend and time it for a certain amount of seconds.

After the person receives the photo, they have the option of viewing it for the chosen time run, or screen shoot it, keeping the photo archived in their phone forever. Snapchat is a free app that can be downloaded on any smart phone.

Just like Jennifer Lawrence’s leaked private photos, there is now a website where anyone can access leaked Snapchat  photos that are either uploaded by the user themselves, or hacked photos from other sources. However, most of the pictures aren’t pornographic. In particular, there was a photo with someone’s face with the caption, “just ate a whole pizza.”

The photos are innocent for the most part, yet the idea of having Snapchat as one of those private exclusive platforms to launch off our faces and private body parts is no longer the case. Your photos are no longer safe. Think twice before you send that picture, because it could end up online.

Snapchat allows its users to see if their photo has been screen shot, which gives the impression that your private photos are up for grabs regardless of how long the photo was viewable.

The whole purpose of Snapchat is defeated. How is it dirty fun anymore?

The idea of,  “Oh I’m so excited to send this sexy picture of myself to my boyfriend,” to then having it disappear after 10 seconds is alluring and intriguing to some. This is seemingly not what all people are using this application for. Instead, it is being utilized as some sort of joke in embarrassing yourself to the inexclusive online world.

This leakage that has occurred recently is not due to someone intentionally stealing each photo, it is due to third party applications that store photo information. There has been no concrete or definitive answer as to how all 13GB of videos and pictures have been leaked according to 4Cha.org posts.

On a website called snapchatleaked.com, people have the capability to upload Snapchat photos and  download them. There are tabs that are labeled, “women,” “hot,” “men,” “silly,” and “funny”.  Each tab that is clicked on shows different Snapchats, but the majority of the images are not explicit.

This whole ordeal is quite idiotic because we have come to realize that people just want to send frivolous photos of themselves in their daily lives. The “Leakage” will always be there. There is no way to be certain that your photos are secure. If you are very keen on making sure your photos remain private, don’t send them out into cyber world.

These days, you’ll never know where they could end up, and most young students applying to prestigious schools would not appreciate their photos being viewed accidentally by their potential educators. A provocative picture could also compromise potential job opportunities with employers.

Long story short, Snapchat, like Instagram, is a platform for visual communication, and that is all. Snapchat is revealing more humiliating photos than scandalous. So don’t be surprised if your unfavorable photos are available to all in cyberspace.

Be wise.

Be careful.

Be discrete.

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