Your friends can monitor you using the new “Snap Map” feature! We explain how you can prevent this.
As our cooperation partner checked4you reports, the new function is intended to be a type of real-time monitoring. How do you find out where your friends are? You could call her. Okay, old fashioned. Write them a message. Nope, it takes too long for them to read it and respond. Good thing Snapchat now has a new feature: “Snap Map”. If you swipe two fingers from the edges of the display to the center of the app's home screen, a map opens and you can see where you are. And you'll see where your Snapchat contacts are.
The function must first be activated
First of all, it's good that the function is currently not active by itself. You have to unlock it first. You decide who sees your location: only you (ghost mode), all your friends or selected friends that you choose yourself. So if you just want to see what's happening in your area and who's snapping a story, ghost mode is a good setting.
But: If you turn it off, for example because you just want to briefly tell your friends where you are, Snapchat will from now on send your whereabouts almost in real time - at least as long as you have the app open. Your location will then be updated every 30 seconds and shown to friends who open their “Snap Map” as up-to-date as possible. Your position is recorded very precisely, as our screenshots on the left show. If you zoom in on the map as far as possible, you can even see the house you are currently at or in.
Visible on the map for eight hours
the online magazine “The Verge” that the locations of Snapchat contacts will be displayed for a maximum of 8 hours - unless they are updated in the meantime. This happens at the latest when you open the app again.
According to its terms of use, Snap may, with your consent, collect a lot of data from you and use it in connection with advertising - in particular location data. Learn more about Snap's terms of service and privacy here . You apparently give your consent just by using the Snap Map.
It remains unclear to us exactly how long Snapchat stores your locations on its servers. So if you don't want to use the service at all (or no longer want to use it after a test), you should revoke the app's location access rights in the settings of your operating system (see box below). Because in Snapchat itself you can no longer switch off sending your location once you have activated it. There you only have ghost mode, which means that your friends won't receive any information about your whereabouts, but Snap Inc. will still be the operator of the app.
Block location access for Snapchat
Android: Open the settings (usually swipe down the status bar at the top of the screen and tap the gear at the top right). Find the “Apps” menu item and open it. Select “All Apps” and tap “Snapchat.” Then tap “Permissions” and finally “Location”. If you receive a message that the app was designed for older Android versions, confirm with “Reject anyway”.
iOS: Open Settings on the home screen and tap the “Privacy” menu item, then “Location Services” and then “Snapchat”. You can choose whether the app should only know your location when it is active or never.
Source: checked4you
If you enjoyed this post and value the importance of well-founded information, become part of the exclusive Mimikama Club! Support our work and help us promote awareness and combat misinformation. As a club member you receive:
📬 Special Weekly Newsletter: Get exclusive content straight to your inbox.
🎥 Exclusive video* “Fact Checker Basic Course”: Learn from Andre Wolf how to recognize and combat misinformation.
📅 Early access to in-depth articles and fact checks: always be one step ahead.
📄 Bonus articles, just for you: Discover content you won't find anywhere else.
📝 Participation in webinars and workshops : Join us live or watch the recordings.
✔️ Quality exchange: Discuss safely in our comment function without trolls and bots.
Join us and become part of a community that stands for truth and clarity. Together we can make the world a little better!
* In this special course, Andre Wolf will teach you how to recognize and effectively combat misinformation. After completing the video, you have the opportunity to join our research team and actively participate in the education - an opportunity that is exclusively reserved for our club members!
Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )


