FTC Says Snapchat Deceived Customers

Snapchat has agreed to settle with the Federal Trade Commission over charges that it deceived customers about the disappearing nature of messages sent through its service and that it collected users’ contacts without telling them or asking permission.

Snapchat is a popular mobile messaging app that lets people send photos, videos and messages that disappear in a few seconds. But the FTC said Snapchat misled users about its data collection methods and failed to tell users that others could save their messages without their knowledge.

Snapchat agreed to settle without admitting or denying any wrongdoing and the company said it has addressed many of the issues the FTC raised.

As part of the settlement, Snapchat must implement a privacy program that will be monitored by an outside privacy expert for the next 20 years. The arrangement is similar to privacy settlements that Google, Facebook and Myspace have agreed to in recent years.

Although Snapchat said its app notified users when a recipient takes a screenshot of a “snap” they’ve sent, the FTC said recipients with an Apple device that runs an operating system that predates iOS 7 could evade the app’s screenshot detection. Apple’s iOS7 launched last summer.

In addition, the FTC said Snapchat’s app stored video snaps that were not encrypted on the recipient’s device. The videos remained accessible to the recipient, the agency said. A user could access a video message, even after it supposedly disappeared, if the user simply connected the phone to a computer and accessed the video in the device’s file directory.

The settlement doesn’t have a financial component, but if Snapchat is found to violate the agreement, the company could end up paying a civil penalty of up to $16,000 for each violation. The Los Angeles startup reportedly turned down a $3 billion buyout offer from Facebook last fall.

The settlement will be formally approved in 30 days once a public comment period ends.

This article appeared in print in the May 9th, 2014 edition of Hamodia.