Snapchat: Is it really private?

On Jan. 1, Snapchat, a popular photo messaging app, was hacked. The hackers released the usernames and phone numbers of approximately 4.6 million members onto the website SnapchatDB.info. 

This security breach happened just a few days after Snapchat acknowledged a possible security vulnerability in which someone could potentially compile a database of Snapchat usernames and phone numbers. The anonymous hackers said the hack was intended to urge Snapchat to tighten its security measures.

About a week later, Snapchat posted an official apology and released an update that aims to protect the phone numbers and usernames of Snapchat users. 

Still, users are now questioning the security of their private information on Snapchat, a company that has always promised to ensure protection and privacy. 

Since the hack, the photo-messaging service has added a new verification system in an effort to ensure that people who sign up for Snapchat are humans, and not computers. In this system, the user is given multiple pictures, and is asked to identify pictures of a Snapchat’s ghost logo. 

Is this system working? Apparently not as well as intended. According to CNET.com, one man named Steve Hickson hacked the image verification system in under an hour, writing a code that allows his computer to immediately recognize the ghost. Although the company’s attempted security upgrade was a creative effort, this system of verification is a failure and further shows Snapchat’s vulnerability.

Snapchat has had several other privacy issues in the past that make it harder and harder for users to trust the company. 

For example, the main reason Snapchat became so popular was that users believed that photos could only be viewed for a limited number of seconds. 

But, according to Snapchat’s privacy policy, the company temporarily stores the contents of the Snap on the devices of recipients. The company then deletes the Snap from the recipients’ phones. Of course, Snapchat cannot guarantee the deletion always occurs and cannot prevent others from making copies of Snaps, as stated on its website.

Although the company promises to delete every photo after a few seconds, there are multiple apps, such as “SnapHack,” that allow users to hack their Snapchat and save every photo they receive to their camera roll. Snapchat alerts a user when someone has screenshotted a photo, but SnapHack automatically saves a photo without alerting the sender.

Many users do not realize the danger in sending embarrassing photos to their friends. Snapchat cannot gurantee the deletion of these photos and every photo can easily be screenshotted or saved through apps like “SnapHack.” And in several cases, embarrassing photos can be posted online for the whole world to see. 

For example, the website “Snapchat Leaked,” which was created in May 2013, posts nude Snapchat photos without the user’s knowledge. The website gets these photos because users send in screenshots or saved Snapchat photos to the website to be uploaded. 

Although Snapchat promises to destroy every photo, there are flaws in the company’s security and multiple ways to hack an account to automatically save every photo. The bottom line is to avoid sending any photo you’re uncomfortable having on the web — and knowing that it could be online forever.