The online youth magazine from the North Rhine-Westphalia consumer center “checked4you” took a close look at Snapchat and said: Snapchat fails when it comes to data protection
The messenger reserves the right to collect a lot of data and use it to advertise – even from private snaps!
Image: Screenshot snapchat.com
The messenger Snapchat scores points with the fact that messages are deleted shortly after they have been read. What sounds like great data protection turns out to be a sham. Because Snapchat says quite openly in its terms of use (point 3, as of March 29, 2016): “Although we are not obliged to do so, we may access your content at any time and for any reason and check, view and delete it.” The operators In the USA you can always spy on what you send via Snapchat. But they allow themselves even more:
Surfing behavior
Snapchat may record and store which devices you use the service, when and for how long you do so, and which websites you visit in connection with Snapchat services. All of this serves, among other things, to find out which topics interest you and to use this information for advertising. The data protection declaration (as of March 29, 2016) states: “We personalize the services by, among other things, suggesting friends and profile information or adjusting the content that is shown to you (including advertisements)”. The service can also collect information about the content of your Snaps. Above all, however – as with WhatsApp – the so-called metadata is evaluated. That leads us to the next point.
Profiling
Who do you text the most with? When are you doing that? Do you take screenshots of the messages? Snapchat is allowed to record and evaluate this. If you allow Snapchat to access your smartphone's address book, the service can compare the stored phone numbers with the Snapchat profiles. Users who also have your number saved in their address book could receive information about you. What information this could be is not stated in the data protection regulations. In general, you should carefully consider access to your smartphone contacts. You can read more in the article about the Snapchat and Facebook apps . Snapchat also writes in its data protection declaration (as of March 29, 2016): “If, for example, For example, if another user allows data to be collected from their device's phone book and you are one of their contacts, we may combine the data collected from that user's phone book with the data we have about you."
storage
All data is processed on servers in the USA. Snapchat officials point out that they cannot guarantee that all data from read messages will be deleted within a specific period of time. Of course, the recipient can also save it - using other apps, in their device's cache or simply via a screenshot.
Setting options
How widely your content is distributed depends on your personal settings and which services you use. In the app itself, you can essentially just enter (or leave out) a few details about yourself and set who can send you Snaps and view your Stories by default. According to Snapchat's privacy policy, your Snapcode and profile pictures as well as "content that you have sent to a live, local or other crowdsourcing service" are public and therefore visible to everyone.
Depending on your operating system, it is possible to revoke some permissions from the Snapchat app. However, this may also limit the range of functions.
copyright
Anyone who sends content via Snapchat automatically uploads it to servers in the USA. Not only do you allow the service to distribute the photos worldwide (which is necessary to deliver them to the recipient). According to the terms of use, Snapchat may also copy, modify, publish, broadcast and distribute them for its own advertising purposes. Snapchat expressly applies this to private messages, because the rights go even further for live and local stories. To be clear: Snapchat is allowed to print the pictures you send (or those in which you can be seen) on posters at bus stops and use them to advertise its services.
Apart from the fact that you don't get a cent for it, this can potentially become a problem for you if you didn't take the photo yourself (keyword: copyright ) or if there are people in it who don't want to be publicly visible (keyword : personal rights ). In principle, only those who have taken a picture are authorized to use and publish it. And as a rule, everyone who is photographed has to agree to publication.
In a blog post, those responsible write that they apparently only require these extensive rights for public files. Those that are sent privately to specific recipients are excluded.
Alternatives
Simsme , offers the option of sending messages that are deleted shortly after being opened. The Messenger app is free. Messages are transmitted using end-to-end encryption and are only stored encrypted on servers in Germany until the recipient has retrieved them.
In France, Facebook with “self-destructing” messages. But the terms of use and data protection not without it.
The Swiss messenger Threema, like Simse, transmits messages and files using end-to-end encryption. However, the app costs money and messages are not automatically deleted - which isn't so bad since they can only be seen by the recipient anyway.
(hamo)
Source: checked4you.de
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