Is Snapchat 100% private? – mustachemagazine

If you've been using Snapchat for years, you know that a long time ago, you could see who any of your contacts' best friends were. This problem, which caused numerous complaints, has been resolved. But Snapchat isn't quite 100% clean on its own privacy line yet.

This answers the question of those who wonder if Snapchat is 100% private. Snapchat recently removed some privacy control features from the app, causing users great concern. I know that privacy violations are reason enough to stop using a service. But you don't have to do that in this case. I'll give you more details about Snapchat's privacy options and let you know how you can have private social interactions on Snapchat.

Is Snapchat 100% private?

To summarize, Snapchat is NOT 100% private! Most of the privacy control features have been removed from the latest version of Snapchat, and all you have now is ghost mode in My Location. Additionally, you can no longer choose who can chat with you on Snapchat or who can see your story in the latest basic version of Snapchat.

Additionally, the backend of the app is not private. Therefore, all transmitted data is accessible to Snap Inc, at least for a limited time.

Although Snapchat insists in its privacy policy that its snap and chat features are private, these include all voice and video chats between friends.

But, for example, Memories are stored in Snapchat's servers, which are located in the Google App Engine. According to Snap Inc's privacy policy, Memories are deleted from servers after approximately 30 days.

Today, Facebook may be the worst app when it comes to protecting user privacy (that's a topic for another day), but Snapchat is a close second. For example, the app may access your address book and collect phone numbers and names without your consent. Additionally, according to Information Week, the app has access to your location services and transmits this data to analytics tracking service providers.

How to make your Snapchat private?

Those looking for ways to make their Snapchat private are hitting a brick wall. The bad news is that as of this writing, you can't make your Snapchat private like you could with older versions of Snapchat.

Before the update was released in July 2022, all you had to do, according to Snapchat Support, was:

Click your profile icon in the upper left corner of the Snapchat camera screen.

Click the Settings button shaped like a gear icon, scroll down to Privacy Controls and select an option.

But that was in the past. You can no longer do this in the latest base version of Snapchat, released on June 29. The Privacy Controls feature has disappeared from Settings in the latest version of Snapchat. Below you can see what the Settings dashboard now looks like:

As you can see above, the privacy control feature is no longer there. This tells you that Snapchat is tightening its privacy stranglehold on users. You have no control over your privacy, except for the My Location settings which you can put in ghost mode.

So what happened?

Why is Snapchat removing privacy control in the new version?

With the latest version, Snapchat introduces its subscription version, Snapchat+. It is not a different platform but it has some exclusive features including the privacy control feature.

However, the bad news is that this version is made available to users on a monthly subscription of $3.99.

And guess what? When I signed up for Snapchat+, I was able to find the privacy controls feature in Settings.

So, if you want to make your Snapchat private, you need to pay for it by subscribing to Snapchat+. The other option is to downgrade to the older version, which still has the privacy control or Who Can… feature.

How to make Snapchat private on Snapchat+?

Open Snapchat and tap your Bitmoji avatar or profile icon in the upper left corner.

Go to Settings by tapping the gear icon at the top right of the page.

Scroll down to PRIVACY CONTROL in green text.

By selecting Contact Me, you can define who can contact you directly via Snaps, calls or chats.

You can also choose who can see your story by selecting View my story.

Finally, you can set who sees your location history update when you have Snapchat open by selecting See my location.

Also read: How to know if someone has deleted their Snapchat?

Don't want your contacts to find you on Snapchat? Tips for trying

As I told you before, if you want your Snapchat account to be as private as possible, the first thing you need to do is get the premium Snapchat+. Otherwise, you can only hide your location history from your friends (while in Ghost mode). So I'll talk about that first, and we'll continue for those who have a Snapchat+ account.

Tip 1: Hide your location on Snapchat map

What compromises privacy the most on Snapchat is that your contacts can see your location on the map. This feature is great but can be a very significant privacy leak. You need to follow the steps below to prevent your location from being visible on Snapchat. Note that your Snapchat type determines what to do. The procedures below all work for the latest version of Snapchat released in July 2022.

Step by step to hide location on basic Snapchat

Open Snapchat and tap your profile icon in the upper left corner.

Go to Settings by tapping the gear icon at the top right of the page.

Scroll down to See my location

Toggle Ghost Mode to the right until the toggle switch turns green.

Step by step to hide location on Snapchat+.

If you're using Snapchat+, tap your profile in the upper left corner of the camera page.

Click the Settings icon and go to Privacy Control.

Tap See My Location to set who sees your location history update when you have Snapchat open.

Activate Ghost mode. Once you have done this, your friends cannot see your location, and your Ghost Track will be erased.

You can also choose to share your location only with certain friends. To do this, you need to turn off Ghost mode. You can select My Friends if you want to share it only with your contacts.

If you want to share it with all your contacts except certain people, select My friends, except… And if you want to share it with only a few friends, choose Only these friends…

With either of the last two options, you have to select the friends you want to share the location with, then save your choice, and that's it.

Tip #2: Select who sees your Stories on Snapchat+.

Sharing stories on Snapchat is one of the most important features of the app. However, you can select which of your contacts can see your story, like Instagram “best friends”.

To share your Stories with just a few friends on Snapchat, follow these steps:

Open Snapchat and tap your profile in the upper left corner of the camera page.

Click the Settings icon and go to Privacy Control.

Tap View My Story to set who sees your Snapchat Stories.

As you can see above, you can select Everyone, Friends Only, or Custom. This last option allows you to choose which of your contacts you want to share your stories with. If you choose this option, you must select the contacts with whom you are going to share the stories, and that's it.

Tip 3: Limit who can talk to you on Snapchat+.

With this tip you can choose who can contact you (send you messages, photos or videos) through the app. Here's how to do it:

Open Snapchat and tap your profile in the upper left corner of the camera page.

Click the Settings icon and go to Privacy Controls or Who Can… (depending on your version of Snapchat).

Tap the Contact Me section just below Privacy Control or Who Can…

Select one option from the three you can see:

• When you select Friends, only your contacts can contact you via Snapchat.
• When you choose Friends & Contacts, your friends on Snapchat and those of your contacts can contact you directly with Snaps, calls, or messages.
• When you choose Everyone, anyone not on your friends list can contact you.

Tip 4: Hide your phone number

Your phone number is probably the most sensitive piece of data that you should only share with close friends and family. Your number could be saved by users you don't know.

To hide your phone number, go to settings.

Then click on Mobile number.

Finally, uncheck the “Let others find me using my mobile number” option.

Tip 5: Use a nickname, not your first and last name.

On Snapchat, using a nickname is strongly recommended to separate your real identity from your online social life.

Little advice, don't do like me by using your real name or the same nickname for all social networks. Otherwise, it becomes easy to find you on Snapchat if someone knows your nickname on another network.

To change your nickname, go to Settings > My Account. Then tap Name to edit your name.

You can also change your username if it's too revealing by tapping Change Username.

Note: You can only change your username once a year. And you need to enter your password to make this change.

Luckily, you can also remove your name from your profile by tapping Remove Name below your name.

Tip 6: Hide your location on the map

Even though it's functional, it's not always very reassuring knowing that any of your friends can see where you are at any time. I therefore advise you to switch to ghost mode so that no one can access your location. You can also either share your location with all your friends except certain people, or not share your location except with only a few friends (whom you can trust).

Tip 7: And the most obvious advice: only accept friends you know.

It's always tempting to want to have as many friends as possible on a social network. This makes you feel popular, valued and, sometimes, fulfilled. But it's also potentially dangerous if you don't know most of your “friends” on Snapchat, especially if you're sharing content that might let someone know what neighborhood you live in, the places you used to habit of going, etc.

Just ask yourself this question: Do I know more than 20 people who I can share the content I want with?

Extra Tip: Turn off See Me in Quick Add in Settings > Privacy Controls. This option allows any user to find your nickname and add you.

Also Read: What is the difference between “Add a Friend” and “Accept a Friend” on Snapchat?

How to hide Camera Roll from Snapchat friends?

To hide Camera Roll items from your friends, go to Camera Roll and select the items you want to hide from them.

Select Hide, the item next to Export, in the lower left corner.

Select Move and the items will be moved to My Eyes Only.

Finish by choosing to delete or keep the originals from your Camera Roll. If you want to keep them, select Cancel.

Snapchat also claims that it does not save your Camera Roll on its servers.

You'll be taken to Memories when you swipe up on your Snapchat camera. Next, tap Camera Roll, and you can see the following message: “Your Camera Roll is not backed up by Snapchat”.