I think it’s safe to say that Snapchat has now officially jumped the shark. That’s because after being hacked and having a rather poor response to it before finally addressing the issue, Snapchat has now had to settle with the FTC over charges that it’s key feature which is that messages that you make disappear after they get viewed didn’t actually work. Here’s what Forbes wrote about the subject:
In a press conference, the FTC’s Assistant Director, Division of Privacy and Identity Protection, Christopher Olson said “if you make promises about privacy you must honor those promises.” He also said there were security flaws that Snapchat should have addressed to “prevent unauthorized user from accessing Snapchat user names and phone numbers.”
As part of the agreement, Snapchat will have to change its messaging to make it more clear that messages don’t necessarily disappear. “Under the terms of its settlement with the FTC, Snapchat will be prohibited from misrepresenting the extent to which it maintains the privacy, security, or confidentiality of users’ information. In addition, the company will be required to implement a comprehensive privacy program that will be monitored by an independent privacy professional for the next 20 years,” according to the FTC.
Any violation of this order will subject the company to civil penalties in the future, Olson said.
Snapchat was contrite via a blog post that went up today, but one has to wonder if the damage is done and if Snapchat is done like dinner. I suspect it is.
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This entry was posted on May 8, 2014 at 10:50 pm and is filed under Commentary with tags Snapchat. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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Snapchat Settles With FTC Over Messages That Don’t Disappear
I think it’s safe to say that Snapchat has now officially jumped the shark. That’s because after being hacked and having a rather poor response to it before finally addressing the issue, Snapchat has now had to settle with the FTC over charges that it’s key feature which is that messages that you make disappear after they get viewed didn’t actually work. Here’s what Forbes wrote about the subject:
In a press conference, the FTC’s Assistant Director, Division of Privacy and Identity Protection, Christopher Olson said “if you make promises about privacy you must honor those promises.” He also said there were security flaws that Snapchat should have addressed to “prevent unauthorized user from accessing Snapchat user names and phone numbers.”
As part of the agreement, Snapchat will have to change its messaging to make it more clear that messages don’t necessarily disappear. “Under the terms of its settlement with the FTC, Snapchat will be prohibited from misrepresenting the extent to which it maintains the privacy, security, or confidentiality of users’ information. In addition, the company will be required to implement a comprehensive privacy program that will be monitored by an independent privacy professional for the next 20 years,” according to the FTC.
Any violation of this order will subject the company to civil penalties in the future, Olson said.
Snapchat was contrite via a blog post that went up today, but one has to wonder if the damage is done and if Snapchat is done like dinner. I suspect it is.
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This entry was posted on May 8, 2014 at 10:50 pm and is filed under Commentary with tags Snapchat. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.