Cybersecurity Policy Report, Snapchat 'Different' From Other Platforms on Privacy, CEO Says, (Jul 22, 2019)
Organizations Mentioned:Snap, Inc.
By Lynn Stanton
Snap, Inc., co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Evan Spiegel has told Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R., Tenn.) that Snapchat is "different" from other social media platforms when it comes to privacy, because it does not include public profiles and does not allow messaging or location-sharing between people who are not already friends.
Sen. Blackburn had written to Snap earlier this month, urging the company to ensure that children are protected from sexual predators on Snapchat.
"In 2019, our children are living an unprecedented amount of their young lives online," Sen. Blackburn had said. "Snap must be transparent with users about the steps they take to ensure their application is used responsibly and not taken advantage of by those who wish to do innocent children harm."
In his response, Mr. Spiegel said children under 13 were prohibited from using Snapchat by its terms of service.
"Snapchat is rated 12+ in the Apple app store (only because Apple doesn't provide a 13+ designation) and rated Teen in the Google Play store, putting parents on notice that Snapchat is not designed for children. These ratings reflect Snapchat's content, which is designed for teens and adults and not children under 13 years of age," he said.
He said Snap did not "stockpile private messages or publicly and perpetually share a history of everything our users have created," which "is a defense against the increasingly ubiquitous and permanent digital records created by people in other apps that may follow them for the rest of their lives."
But he said it preserved metadata that had "helped law enforcement in many investigations. . . . We often have content to provide National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) and law enforcement, because when child sexual abuse imagery or other illegal content is reported on Snapchat, we preserve it."
In a statement accompanying the release of Snap's response, Sen. Blackburn said, "Keeping our children safe online is paramount. I am appreciative of Snap's responsiveness and willingness to engage in a productive discussion. These vulnerabilities must be addressed."
News: Privacy