So you’ve got the latest phone and have just downloaded all the latest apps. Aside from the basics — Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter — you’ve decided to socialize with trendier programs like Snapchat and WhatsApp. Everyone knows that what you post on the internet technically always exists out in cyberspace, but what about when you use apps that supposedly have “no trace?”
Snapchat, an app that has been steadily rising in popularity as a form of instant messaging, allows users to send pictures to their friends that get deleted automatically after a pre-determined delay. The premise of a self-destructing photo allows users to communicate with a sense of security; they won’t negatively affect their reputations, friendships, careers, etc. It also has become an increasingly popular platform for sexting, as the app will not store any data you send.
It is pretty clear why Snapchat has become such a popular messenger; however, I’m afraid I have to say sorry to Snapchat, as their idea isn’t so iron clad.
Friends that receive your pictures can still screenshot whatever you send, and although the original application had built in warnings when a screenshot was taken, new iOS updates of the app do not show such warnings anymore.
Society has groomed us into taking multiple selfies a day, and constantly craving more “likes.”
In addition, many websites and programmers now have access to all those dirty pictures you might send. Snapchatleaked.com, for example, cultivated and published a collection of screenshots users took while using the app.
Richard Hickman, a 24-year old forensics examiner, can retrieve Snapchat photos despite the disappearing photo magic Snapchat claims, in a procedure that takes about six hours. His private firm based in Orem, Utah will recover photos for $300 – $500 for anyone from lawyers to parents to the police.
Most of us probably have nothing to worry about, other than some hideous selfies we have taken to express mundane life events to our friends, but I am sure that you’d think twice about a nude pic or incriminating photo if you realized how accessible those images really are.
Of course, Snapchat’s privacy policy explicitly states that there is no guarantee your data will always be deleted, so they aren’t too concerned if one of your picture messages happens to be let loose. As far as they know everyone reads those terms and agreements before using an application, right?
Society has groomed us into taking multiple selfies a day, and constantly craving the attention for more “likes,” no matter what the social media platform. We focus so heavily on celebrities and try to recreate the claim to fame on a micro scale. We constantly update our statuses, tweets, and photos in a frantic state of social connectivity, without fully realizing the fundamental reasons driving us to do so.
Snapchat is merely a reflection of a larger societal problem — the need to be recognized and gratified instantly. Who cares about privacy, when the very people we worship publicly display their private lives? Who cares about the effects of our sneaky Snapchats being found — when “all publicity is good publicity”?
Snapchat reveals that we are more concerned about our perception of social connectivity online than the actual consequences of our online actions. How can I tell this? Despite reading this article, regular Snapchatters will probably sign away their privacy by posting or sending a picture within hours.
But don’t worry, it’s not our problem: it’s society’s, right?
