SnapChat: Beware Third Party Apps

SnapChat themselves have now responded to ‘The Snappening’, the leaking of 200,000 images from an archive site called SnapSaved after a hacking attack on the site. The hack was allowed to take place due to issues with the server the site was stored on.

Of course, the actual SnapChat app wasn’t affected at all by the hacking, instead the company wants to re-iterate that the third party app was entirely to blame, and not only was it vulnerable to hacking, but also users had been warned about not using these third party apps that access SnapChat, hence the fact they are against the terms of use policy.

SnapChat’s statement made it clear that the company had little to no responsibility for their actions of SnapSaved, in fact the company’s long term attitude on the subject of explicit photos and third party apps has always been one that avoids taking any responsibility for such activities.

with users making their own decision on how to use the service, SnapChat is in a very tough position regarding the new hack. The company’s ;latest statement echoes this attitude.

“Snapchat has always been a fun place to share Snaps with friends. The best way to keep our community safe is a combination of security countermeasures and common sense. We’ll continue to do our part by improving Snapchat’s security and calling on Apple and Google to take down third-party applications that access our API. You can help us out by avoiding the use of third-party applications.”

Snapchat made another statement to tech blog The Verge yesterday.

Snapchatters were victimized by their use of third-party apps to send and receive snaps, a practice that we expressly prohibit in our Terms of Use precisely because they compromise our users’ security. We vigilantly monitor the App Store and Google Play for illegal third-party apps and have succeeded in getting many of these removed.