A recent article now confirms claims that the co-creators of Snapchat have tapped into their servers to hand over unopened “snaps” to law enforcement per request of a warrant. If you aren’t concerned yet, a forensic software company has already found a way to retrieve opened “snaps” that were claimed to have been deleted forever off the phones of android users, and this company hasn’t stopped there. Claims say that this company shouldn’t be too far from retrieving opened “snaps” from iPhone users as well.
If you find yourself getting upset with Snapchat, you should know that they are only handing over these criminally incriminating “snaps” to avoid legal trouble themselves. Under the federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), Snapchat is legally obligated to provide evidence if requested by a search warrant. So this should raise the question of whether there is anything that a normal user can send via the internet without the government having access to it.
With the nation moving toward a totally virtual world on the internet, are we under the sorely mistaken illusion that without a paper trail nothing is traceable? With this new information coming to light the youth of America needs to be more cautious as to what transpires over the internet. Everything you search, send, and receive can somehow find its way into the hands of the general public as well as local law enforcement. So I urge you to be cautious of what you involve yourself in over the next few years as we move into a more public society over the internet. They say a picture is worth a thousand words but one mistake today, such as a criminally incriminating “snap”, could cost you much more.
I agree it's a bit over the top to have an iPhone app able to incriminate someone. At the same time I don't believe it's ever smart to upload any incriminating picture over the internet or on a phone so I would never be worried about the pictures I send.
ReplyDeleteIt is very true that anything that is posted on internet in any way would be very hard even impossible to remove. This is a very interesting blog because I hadn't heard about snapchats before, and well now I know something new. It's a little scary but, I can't help but feel a little safe at the same time.
ReplyDeleteSnapchat is an iffy app to begin with and is used for many different reasons. I use it to send funny videos and funny faces to my friends for 10 seconds and it's gone. However, there are people that use it for the wrong reasons and will send pictures of something that they know they shouldn't simply because they think in 10 seconds it'll be gone for forever. So maybe it's a good thing that they are able to het ahold of these pictures if they need to.
ReplyDeleteInteresting blog, it is hard to believe that law enforcement can use the snap chats to incriminate people, especially since the whole point of snap chat is that you can send a picture to be viewed for a limited amount of time. I, myself, do not use snap chat a lot. I do not have an iphone and do not like the thought of sending an unattractive picture of myself to friends, even its for humor. However I do use it to send quick pictures of my surrounding to my international friends. Again, I agree that anything you send via the internet has the chance of being viewed by more than the intended recipient, so be careful! If you would not want a cop or future employer to see it, do NOT send it.
ReplyDeleteI do not use snapchat to send pictures to anyone; so this is the first time I heard about "a picture is worth a thousand words but one mistake today" and cost more. It's dangerous for people who usually use snapchat to send pictures.
ReplyDeleteI am not familiar with the app, however, I believe it is about time for law enforcement to demand that all social media companies clearly communicate the potential riskk and impact that users profile and exchanged data have when they create an account, and post any type of data.
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