2020 Mar 4
From various notorious connotations that it was associated with, Snapchat grew rapidly in the social media space, challenging the existing presence of Facebook as the king of content. On the outlook, this image and video-based app seems less threatening to privacy as compared to Facebook, but is that the reality?
Snapchat collects the information that you provide when you register for the service. These include things such as your name, username, password, email address and mobile number. Other than that they also collect “whatever information you send through our services, such as Snaps and Chats.”
So now you have gotten registered and it’s time to start snap-chatting! When you are doing so, the app automatically collects data in order to understand how you interact with the app and its features. Furthermore, they collect information about your activities such as the filters you use, stories you watch on Discover and the search queries you make (In other words, they know when you open a message or screenshot it!)
Generally being a mobile app, they collect a wide range of device specific data that includes but is not limited to “the hardware model, operating system version, device memory, advertising identifiers, unique application identifiers, apps installed, unique device identifiers and information from device sensors such as accelerometers, gyroscopes and compasses.”
Is that all they know about you? Not really. They collect information from third-party services such as advertisers, app developers, and publishers who will share data with Snap Inc. By combining both internal and external information, they are able to target ads and promotions better for you (After all it is a free service. Right?)
Other than for developments, bug fixes, analytics, ad targeting related to the app if you are an Apple user they collect some additional information as well. As the privacy statement puts it “We may also use information from Apple’s TrueDepth camera to improve the quality of lenses. Information from the TrueDepth camera is used in real time—we don’t store this information on our servers or share it with third parties”.
The initial concept of the service was based on building a messaging service based on disappearing traces. So will the information they collect also delete automatically? Well some will and some won’t.
- Snaps and Chats will be automatically deleted by default when they are opened or have expired.
- Basic account information is stored until you request it to be deleted.
- Store time varies for location based data
- If you use the map, information about your favorite places will be stored for upto 40 days
- If they are associated with your content (Snaps/Memories/Our Story) they will be
retained until it exists.
Feel like you need to end that week long streak? “If you ever decide to stop using Snapchat, you can just ask us to delete your account. We’ll also delete most of the information we’ve collected about you after you’ve been inactive for a while—but don’t worry, we’ll try to contact you first!” But they are also unable to assure that the deletion process will occur “within a specific timeframe”, due to the reasons such as legal requirements to store data.
So now you know how your screen gets flooded with content every time that you open snapchat! Its all about the information!
