Snapchat is a popular social media app that allows users to share photos, videos, and messages that disappear after being viewed. One of the main draws of Snapchat is that content is meant to be ephemeral, giving users a sense of privacy when sharing moments with friends. However, some users have expressed concerns over whether Snapchat actually shares their data with third parties behind the scenes. In this article, we’ll examine Snapchat’s privacy policies, data practices, and partnerships to understand what information is collected and shared by Snapchat.
What data does Snapchat collect?
According to Snapchat’s privacy policy, the app collects a range of data from its users, including:
- User content like Snaps, Chats, Stories, audio notes, and more
- User profile information like name, Bitmoji, username, password, email address, phone number, date of birth, and gender
- Contact information from the user’s device address book
- Location data such as precise location information from GPS, Wi-Fi, cell towers, and other sensors
- Usage information like Snaps viewed, stories posted, search queries, and more
- Device data like device model, operating system, browser type, IP address, and identifiers
Much of this data is used by Snapchat to operate basic services and customize the app experience. However, some categories of data may also be leveraged for advertising purposes.
Does Snapchat share user data with third parties?
According to its privacy policy, Snapchat states that it shares user data with the following categories of third parties:
Affiliates
Snapchat may share user data with its parent company Snap Inc. and other Snap Inc. affiliates and subsidiaries. This allows Snapchat activities to be analyzed across the whole Snap family of products.
Service Providers
Snapchat relies on various service providers, vendors and contractors to perform business operations on its behalf. These may include hosting services, customer service providers, payment processors, and security and technology providers. User data may be shared with these parties to facilitate business processes, but their use of data is supposed to be limited to these purposes only.
Advertising Partners
Snapchat states that user data may be shared with advertising partners to deliver relevant and personalized ads to users based on their interests and activities. Users can opt-out of targeted ads, but data sharing still occurs in support of general advertising.
Researchers and Academics
Snapchat sometimes shares aggregated, anonymized data with researchers and academics to support studies on social media, communications, and other research fields.
Law Enforcement and Legal Requests
Snapchat cooperates with law enforcement requests from government agencies when required under law. User data may be shared with authorities to comply with regulations or investigations.
Business Transfers
If Snapchat goes through a merger, acquisition, or any transaction involving sale of its assets, user data may be transferred to the acquiring entity. Users would be notified in this event.
So in summary, Snapchat does share specific categories of user data with various third parties – predominantly those that assist in conducting business operations and delivering services. However, sharing practices are meant to be limited to fulfilling those legitimate purposes only.
Does Snapchat sell user data?
Snapchat’s privacy policy explicitly states that the company does not sell user data to third parties:
“We do not sell or rent your personal information to third parties for their marketing purposes without your consent.”
The policy further clarifies that Snapchat may share user data for business operations, advertising services, research collaborations, and legal reasons as outlined above, but not for third parties to directly buy that data.
There are a few key reasons Snapchat refrains from selling user data:
User Trust
A core pillar of Snapchat’s business is maintaining user trust. If Snapchat freely sold user data, it would violate user expectations and damage that trust. Avoiding data selling preserves Snapchat’s reputation.
Data Security
Selling data involves transferring it outside Snapchat’s controlled systems to unknown parties, creating more opportunities for data to be leaked or misused. Not selling data reduces this security risk.
Competitive Advantage
Snapchat’s rich user data gives the company a competitive edge in areas like advertising and product development. If this data was sold, competitors could gain the same advantages.
Legal Compliance
Many laws and regulations restrict companies like Snapchat from selling user data without affirmative consent. Snapchat opts for compliance by refraining from sales.
So in summary, while Snapchat shares data to power its services, it claims to not directly sell that user data to external parties. This allows Snapchat to maintain competitive differentiation while complying with legal expectations.
Does Snapchat have data sharing partnerships?
Although Snapchat does not sell data outright, it does participate in some partnerships that involve data sharing:
Advertising Partnerships
As outlined in Snapchat’s privacy policy, user data is shared with third-party ad partners to allow interest-based advertising. Partners like Google and AppsFlyer can receive hashed identifiers, device info, usage data and other inputs to target and measure ads.
Integration Partnerships
Snapchat integrates with services like Apple’s GameCenter, Google Maps/Places, AgeCheq and more. Information like username, email address, device ID and location may be shared with partners to enable these integrations.
Cloud Service Providers
Snapchat utilizes cloud platforms like Google Cloud and AWS to power services and data storage. These providers gain access to user data, but handle it on Snapchat’s behalf.
Research Partnerships
Snapchat occasionally partners with universities and firms for anonymized data sharing to enable social research. For example, a 2021 study on social distancing with Deloitte used aggregated Snapchat data.
Government Data Requests
Snapchat is required to comply with valid legal requests for user data from government entities and law enforcement. For example, Snapchat’s transparency report details lawful data disclosures.
So in summary, Snapchat does selectively share user data with partners mostly to deliver core services and enhance offerings. However, these partnerships are meant to be limited in scope.
What data sharing controls do users have?
Snapchat offers some controls allowing users to limit data collection and sharing:
Targeted Ad Preferences
Users can opt-out of targeted ads to limit sharing of data with ad partners. This prevents interest-based advertising.
Limit Ad Tracking
On iOS devices, enabling Limit Ad Tracking restricts sharing of advertisting IDs that allow tracking user activity across apps.
Disable Location Services
Disabling location access for Snapchat limits collection and sharing location data with the app. Features like geotags will be disabled.
Manage Third-Party App Authorizations
Connecting third-party apps via Snap Kit can allow data sharing with those services. Users can revoke app authorizations.
Downgrade Account
Users can opt to downgrade to a Snapchat Basic account, which reduces data collected by Snapchat. Personalization features will be limited.
However, many forms of mandatory data sharing – such as to meet legal requirements or operate core services – cannot be limited by users. But the above controls provide some ability to customize data collection.
Conclusion
In summary, Snapchat claims not to “sell” user data outright to third parties. However, sharing does occur with an ecosystem of partners primarily to deliver services, target advertising, enable features, conduct research, and satisfy legal obligations. Users are given some limited controls to customize these practices. Ultimately, weighing the benefits of Snapchat against its required data policies is a personal decision each user must make. But hopefully this overview provides some transparency into what information Snapchat collects and shares behind the scenes.