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A detailed look at how Snapchat (Snap Inc.) collects, stores, and uses your personal data.
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Terrible
Snapchat (Snap Inc.)'s privacy score of 15/100 reflects their data collection practices, transparency, incident history, and user control options. This score indicates significant privacy concerns that users should be aware of.
In 2014, Snapchat suffered a data breach that exposed 4.6 million usernames and phone numbers after ignoring warnings from security researchers who identified the vulnerability months earlier.
The FTC settled with Snapchat in 2014 over charges that the company deceived users by claiming snaps 'disappear forever' when they could be saved, and that it collected contact information without notice.
In 2019, Snapchat employees abused internal tools ('SnapLion') to spy on users, accessing location data, saved snaps, phone numbers, and email addresses without authorization.
Snapchat's Snap Map feature launched in 2017 with location sharing on by default, exposing precise real-time locations of millions of users, including minors, prompting school safety warnings.
In 2022, Snap was fined 2.5 million SEK by Sweden's data protection authority for failing to adequately respond to user data access requests within the legally required timeframe.
To minimize Snapchat's data collection, start by opening the app and going to your Profile > Settings (gear icon). Under 'Privacy Controls,' enable 'Ghost Mode' on Snap Map to prevent location sharing with friends, or better yet, never open Snap Map at all. Set 'Contact Me' to 'My Friends' instead of 'Everyone' and set 'View My Story' to 'My Friends' or 'Custom' to limit audience. Disable 'See Me in Quick Add' to prevent your profile from being recommended to strangers. Under 'Ad Preferences,' go through each category and disable all ad targeting options including activity-based ads, audience-based ads, and third-party ad networks. Disable 'Lifestyle Categories' tracking. Go to 'Additional Services' and turn off all data sharing options. Under 'Manage' in settings, go to 'Permissions' and review what Snapchat can access on your device. In your phone's settings, revoke Snapchat's access to Location (or set to 'While Using' at minimum), Contacts, and Microphone when not actively recording. Disable camera access when not taking snaps if your phone supports per-session permissions. Avoid using the Discover section as engagement is tracked for profiling. Do not use Snapchat's in-app browser for external links. Clear your conversation history and search history regularly. Be aware that despite claiming messages disappear, Snapchat retains metadata about all communications including timestamps, recipients, and frequency. For real private messaging, switch to Signal, which offers end-to-end encryption with minimal metadata retention. If you must keep Snapchat, do not use it for sensitive communications and regularly review your privacy settings as Snapchat frequently resets them after updates.
Looking for a privacy-respecting alternative to Snapchat (Snap Inc.)? We recommend:
SignalEnd-to-end encrypted messaging with zero metadata collection.
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