Snapchat is a popular social media app that allows users to share photos, videos, and messages that disappear after being viewed. In recent years, Snapchat has begun integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into many aspects of the app. This raises questions around what types of user data and app functionality Snapchat’s AI systems have access to.
Snapchat Camera and Lenses
One of the primary uses of AI within Snapchat is powering the augmented reality lenses and effects within the Snapchat camera. Snapchat uses neural networks and deep learning to detect faces, segment images, and apply AR effects to users’ selfies in real-time. This requires the Snapchat AI to have access to the camera feed as well as data to train the neural networks.
Specifically, the Snapchat camera AI has access to:
- Real-time camera image data
- Face biometric data used for detecting faces and facial features
- Photo and video data to improve AR effects over time
The Snapchat lens AI analyzes images and videos in order to improve lens effects. However, Snapchat states that this media data is not associated with a user’s account or shared with third parties.
Snapchat Voice Assistant
In 2021, Snapchat launched a voice assistant feature that uses AI and natural language processing to understand voice commands and questions. The Snapchat voice assistant can currently help with the following:
- Opening lenses
- Searching for friends
- Starting chats
- Checking stories
- Providing weather and time information
For the voice assistant to function, it requires access to:
- Microphone audio data
- User profile and friends list
- User content like stories
- Location for weather data
Snapchat states the voice data is analyzed on-device and not stored. Only the voice assistant’s responses are logged to improve performance.
Snapchat Stories Suggestions
Snapchat uses AI to provide personalized suggestions for stories that a user might be interested in watching. This system looks at:
- Stories you have watched in the past
- Stories from friends you interact with frequently
- Popular stories among Snapchat users
- Trending topics and events
By analyzing these signals, Snapchat’s AI can recommend stories it predicts an individual user will enjoy watching. However, Snapchat says the inputs to these predictions are anonymized and aggregated to protect privacy.
Snapchat Maps
The Snapchat Map feature uses AI and machine learning to filter and moderate map data. This helps improve relevance and safety of the user-generated map content. The types of data the Maps AI can access include:
- Location data from Snaps and Stories
- Content signals like captions and visuals
- User-reported concerns
- Blocklists to limit harassment
Analyzing these diverse signals allows the AI to contextualize and approve map submissions appropriately. However, strict access controls are said to be enforced by Snapchat.
Snapchat Ad Targeting
Snapchat’s advertising platform leverages user data and AI to target ads. The data Snapchat’s adtech AI can use includes:
- Age, gender, location
- Content viewed or engaged with
- Purchase history and browsing activity
- App usage patterns
- Real-world business visit history
By better understanding users’ interests and habits, Snapchat can use AI optimization to serve more relevant ads. However, Snapchat notes it does not share personal data directly with advertisers.
Snapchat Chat Suggestions
Snapchat uses AI called Scan to provide suggestions within Snapchat Chat. Scan can generate contextually relevant suggestions for:
- Quick replies to keep conversations flowing
- Friendmoji icons to insert based on chat content
- Topics to add based on your interests
- Restaurants and venues to check out nearby
To enable these features, Scan can access chat content as well as user profile data such as location, interests, and browsing history. However, Snapchat states these AI systems only run locally on-device.
Moderating Offensive Content
Snapchat uses AI and machine learning tools to detect and remove offensive, dangerous, or illegal content. This moderation AI has access to:
- Message, chat, story, and feed content
- User reports of rule-breaking content
- Optical character recognition to detect harmful text
- Image classification models to detect nudity or violence
- Trained object detection models to identify policy violations
Analyzing these signals allows Snapchat to proactively enforce its community guidelines. But the company emphasizes that user privacy remains a priority.
Conclusion
In summary, Snapchat grants its AI access to different types of data depending on the feature:
| Snapchat Feature | Data Access |
|---|---|
| Camera | Camera feed, face biometric data |
| Voice Assistant | Audio data, profile info, user content |
| Story Suggestions | Anonymous aggregates of user behavior |
| Maps | Location data, content signals, user reports |
| Ad Targeting | Demographics, interests, purchase history |
| Chat Suggestions | Chat content, user profile info |
| Moderation | All user content, reports, object detection |
Snapchat provides its AI access to sensitive data like camera inputs, voice recordings, and chat messages – but states strict privacy protections are enforced. The company emphasizes only using data to improve products while limiting third-party sharing.
Overall, Snapchat grants its AI access to a wide array of user data. But this enables Snapchat to power its signature AR, advertising, and conversational features. Snapchat asserts thorough measures are taken to anonymize data and safeguard privacy where possible when leveraging AI.