Teen Leaked Snaps Revealed

Snapchat, a popular messaging app that allows users to send images and videos meant to vanish after several seconds, was recently the target of an elaborate hack by third-party apps that dumped private photos taken by teenagers thinking their snaps would remain safe from prying eyes online. While Snapchat blamed third-party apps for security lapses on which its servers had never been breached; nevertheless this scandal demonstrated there can be more risks involved than people realize when sharing intimate photos online.

4chan has become the site for the distribution of an enormous collection of Snapchat porn, known as “The Snappening.” Hackers reportedly breached a third party app called “snapsaved” to gather 13 gigabytes of private snaps before publishing them online. Though its original hosting site has since closed down, opportunistic 4chan users are uploading copies and making searchable by Snapchat username.

One of the most disturbing cases to date involved a teenager being victimized by a so-called sugar daddy or momma on Snapchat. Sugar relationships involve older users reaching out to younger ones on Snapchat in exchange for money, gifts or travel expenses; sometimes teens may even be required to act as bodyguards or serve as underage sexual slaves.

This scandal has focused attention on Snapchat’s lack of adult filters, yet they remain distant from making a comeback. Spiegel seems determined to save his struggling company.