Blog #5 Snapchat

Dear Blog readers,

I will be looking at Snapchat’s terms of services for blog number 5! Snapchat out of all the social media platforms intrigues me the most to learn about there terms of services, especially there privacy section. Snapchat intrigues me more than other social media platforms for many reasons, mainly because the main use of it is sending and receiving pictures that “disappear” whereas other social media platforms are advertised as more permanent like Instagram you post a picture to your page and it stays there and for twitter when you tweet it stays on your feed as well. So Snapchat to me has to be the most intriguing and has sparked the most interest in me to explore the terms and conditions of this social media platform. The privacy policy on the Snapchat website says “Effective December 18th, 2019”, which means it was updated very recently and is supercurrent. They even have a section on their official page that gives a summary and easier to understand explanation of what it is they do as an app and social media platform. They have 5 main sections in this summary area, 1. “What we do at snap”, 2. “How we gather information”, 3. “How we share information”, 4. “How we store information”, 5. “How you control information”. The first section, “What we do at snap” is there mission statement, where they want people to express themselves, and live in the moment our two of the phrases that stood out to me, especially the live in the moment part because of how I mentioned earlier that Snapchat intrigues me more than other social media platforms because of how it’s used and its content is “temporary”. There is a section of Snapchat you can fill out where you can add your birthday so that a cake will appear to let others know it is your birthday. They also have Geofilters, which is allowing Snapchat to access your location so that it can give you filters to show where you are. The whole allowing Snapchat to know your exact location has always given me the most pause when agreeing to the Terms of services. They even have a map where you can see where all of your friends on Snapchat are in the world, this you can turn off though and still allow Snapchat to see your location to use the Geofilters. The next part of the use was actually very surprising to me because I barely saw any ads when using Snapchat. However, just like all social media platforms, are information is being sold to advertisers. “To keep the lights on at Snap HQ, we make money by selling ads. We use some of what we know about you to serve ads you might be interested in — when you might be interested in them. For example, if you’ve been watching a lot of Snaps about fashion on Discover, we might show you ads for the latest style of jeans. Or if you’ve clicked on a bunch of ads for video games, we might keep those ads coming! But we also use your information to avoid showing you ads you probably won’t like. For example, if a ticketing site tells us you’ve already bought tickets for a movie — or if you bought them through Snapchat — we can stop showing you ads for it.” The top part of this statement didn’t surprise me and it makes sense in my mind that if I click on sports clothes ads that I would get more of those ads, however, it is the last part that shocked me. The part where it says is uses the information to not show ads and then gives the example of the movie, and says “if a ticketing site tells us if you’ve already bought tickets for a movie, we can stop showing you ads for it.” this part is more alarming to me for the fact that a website where I simply thought I was buying a movie ticket, is actually selling my information to a social media platform. The next section is “How we gather information”. They list off three parts for this section, “First, we learn about you when you use our service. So, while you may not tell us you’re a sports fan, if you’re always watching basketball highlights on Discover and your Bitmoji is wearing your team colors, it’s a safe guess.

Second, we learn from whatever information you choose to give us. For example, when you set up a Snapchat account, we learn your birthday, email address, and the unique name you’d like to go by.

Third, we sometimes learn about you from other people and services. For example, if a friend uploads their contact list, we might see your phone number. Or, if you tap on an ad for a video game, the advertiser may let us know that you installed it.”  The first part seems reasonable, if I watch basketball highlights all the time, I will get basketball-related ads, fair enough. The second part is a given when you make your account you fill out the information you want to share although sometimes it is mandatory to fill out to have the account. The third section definitely raises a little concern when they state that they gain information from others. Like if I choose not to have my phone number associated with Snapchat, they can still get that information from a friend who allows Snapchat to access their contact list. The next section seems actually pretty straight forward and doesn’t give me any reason to worry about how Snapchat shares information...at least as long as the wording goes. “When we share information, it’s usually because you ask us to — like when you want to add a Snap to Our Story or send a Chat to a friend. Some of your information, like your username and Snapcode, is visible to the public by default.

We also share information within the Snap family of companies, with business partners that help us provide our services, and when we think it’s required by law.” The final section is what intrigued me the most prior to exploring all of Snapchat’s Terms of services sections and that is how Snapchat stores its information and content, as the content is predicated on pictures that “disappear”. “Snapchat is about living in the moment. That's why when you send a Snap or Chat, it's deleted by default after it's viewed or expires. Still, we may keep messages when you or a friend asks us to, like when you save a message in Chat or a Snap to Memories.

And remember: Snapchatters can always take a screenshot!

Other information may be stored for longer. For example, we store your basic account information until you ask us to delete it. And we’re constantly collecting and updating information about the things you might like and dislike, so we can provide you with better content and advertisements. Learn more.” I was under the impression that nothing posted to the internet truly goes away, however, the wording of this makes it seem like it is fully deleted and that Snapchat as a company doesn’t store the images taken and shared through this social media platform. 

Reading these Terms of services was extremely interesting as well as educational. I personally have never taken the time to read through all of the Terms and Services of the social media sites that I use. I feel like a huge reason for this is the age that I was when I created these social media accounts, I didn’t know the significance of the terms and services and I remember one time I tried to read through one when I was younger but I could not follow any of the vocabulary used because it was way above my head at the time. What about you readers? Do you read the Terms and Services of your social media platforms? Why or why not?