Snapchat users have experienced privacy issues when using third party apps to post images to their accounts.
A LOCAL youth organisation has offered a warning to young people using the image and video sharing app, Snapchat.
The app hit the headlines recently after it was reported that hundreds of thousands of images sent through it had leaked online.
The app is unique in that users take a photo, send it to another user – with the catch being that the photo or video expires after a maximum of ten seconds.
Used by many teenagers in the county, the fear is that it can become an outlet for explicit material – because of how the images and videos expire so rapidly.
A spokesman at the FIND Centre, which works with young people in Enniskillen, said: “As current headlines have proven everything entered onto the internet leaves a digital imprint for life. So for young people who are using the app thinking that the information or pictures they send will only be seen by the recipient and then disappear is false.”
The spokesman added: “The facts are you need to be aware that these images can be saved and shared at a press of a button. Sexting and cyber bullying is a real issue among young people and can have a major effect on a young person’s health and mental well-being.”
The spokesman went on to say that people should make sure they are aware of the app that they are using, and offered the following advice: “Never take explicit pictures and post on line as this will never end well. Don’t friend people you don’t know online. Make sure you talk to someone and get advice if you are being bullied or abused online.
“For parent or key workers working with young people my advice to you is to keep talking to young people about the internet and social media sites. Young people are very internet savvy and we need to learn from them. Don’t be intimidated of the internet; the more we talk and know what’s out there the quicker we can react, learn and advise.”
A third party website – ie, not Snapchat itself, but rather a website that allows users to save images sent to them – has been blamed for the leak.
The images stolen appear to be ‘normal’ however, it has been suggested that there are a percentage of ‘explicit’ images leaked online.
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