Snapchat can do what it likes with your messages, even publicly display them - but should you be worried
Snapchat's new Terms of Service afford the company the right to look at and, if it chooses, delete the picture messages you send through the service. It isn't required by law to do so, and it doesn't have to give a reason as to why it's been snooping.
"While we're not required to do so, we may access, review, screen, and delete your content at any time and for any reason, including if we think your content violates these Terms. You alone though remain responsible for the content you create, post, store, or send through the Services," read the updated Terms.
Also worrying is that "you grant Snapchat a worldwide, perpetual, royalty-free, sublicensable, and transferable license to host, store, use, display, reproduce, modify, adapt, edit, publish, create derivative works from, publicly perform, broadcast, distribute, syndicate, promote, exhibit, and publicly display that content in any form and in any and all media or distribution methods (now known or later developed)".
And Snapchat reserves the right to share your information with third-parties and affiliates.
To summarise, then, Snapchat can look through your stuff, it can delete what it wants for whatever reason, and it can publicly display or share whatever it likes. Also see: Best Snapchat tips & tricks
Snapchat privacy - should you be worried
Before we get away with ourselves, it's worth keeping in mind that just because Snapchat has the right to do something it doesn't mean that it will act on that right - the updated T&Cs may be no more than a means to protect its as-yet-unknown future interests.
Snapchat is not alone in having these sort of terms in its user agreement either. As MarketWatch points out: "Instagram's terms of service similarly grant the company a royalty-free license to use contents posted through the social network, though Instagram has never claimed to be a private or ephemeral messaging service. Facebook's privacy policy also grants the company rights to a royalty-free, world-wide license to user's content, but that only applies to content published under the Public Setting."
And clearly Snapchat isn't about to pick on one of your dodgy picture messages and publicly share it just to humiliate you. It's not like it wants to receive bad publicity.
But the fact remains that Snapchat is not secure enough to protect your messages from the eyes of its staff, nor whoever its staff care to share those messages with.Also see: Best Android apps 2015/2016.
If you truly value your privacy and don't ever want to find your picture messages the face of a Snapchat advertising campaign or to be passed on to third parties, your only real course of action is to stop using Snapchat.
But let's get real. You use Snapchat for a reason. So now use it with the knowledge that whatever you share could end up in the hands of complete strangers. Be careful about what you share - if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to lose.
Read next: Facebook Messenger isn't evil and it isn't about to spy on you
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