to think that SnapChat Map is a really bad idea ?

[TalkinPeece]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-40382876

Basically it locates the phones of everybody on snapchat, down to the exact house
so can be used to find where children are asleep (with their phones by their beds)
or to see if people are away from home.

Has all sorts of safeguarding / crime issues and was clearly thought up by childless geeks ....

I've been in a position when the police have had to contact apps not based in UK for data whatsapp, omegly etc ...they couldn't get that data and they were not obliged to release it as outside of UK .

So I am not so worried about uk government using the data but it is very worrying SOMEONE else is.

I also feel that somehow these apps are enabling child exploitation. They seriously do not care and have no concept of social responsibility. It's all in the parents hands to control and make sure that these apps targeted at kids are used in the proper manner.

I have strict rules on mobile use..and certain apps like Snapchat are banned .

Thanks for this, I hadn't heard about it. Kids knew and gave ghost mode on. Many of their friends haven't though.

My DD turned it onto ghost mode but also found her (very recently) ex-boyfriend at his house with another girl If it was just her close friends on there it she said might be a useful feature so she could see who was out and about to join them (we live in a small town). Not sure whether she has two Snapchat accounts, she has two Instagram, one of close friends and one more general.

You can also opt to have individuals see where you are by selecting them. DD will turn hers on for me if she is traveling somewhere so I know that she has got there.

I had to choose whether to accept it? It's not automatic

If your dd can see people on uni visits it's because they've chosen to video it and have their location published on that video

bluedrinks
No, it tracked their route across the country.
The map is linked to the GPS

hence why you can see where people live by looking up their locations in the middle of the night

I can confirm that on mine at least it wasn't on my default but I put it in ghost mode anyway.

Talk well I've just finally gone onto snap, I can only see 2 people in my area using the snap map everyone else has it turned off but I can see things from people who are hours away, they are the ones who have it public I think that's how it works
That's what's showing on mine anyway

grown ups set privacy

have you asked your teens what THEY are doing ?

a kid turned up at my house because his mate (who was here) could be tracked .....

Thanks for sharing this info! I will get my kids to turn on ghost mode.

I just did another check with the teens gang

they have to remember to stay in "ghost" the whole time to turn off the GPS tracking
if they have the standard snapchat settings, it will be on

this is unbelievably dangerous for younger teens who may not realise the true ages of people they link to

one of the late teen kids has removed all her Tinder contacts from her snapchat ..... think about that one

its the fact that its GPS not APP
so picks up even when they are asleep or being driven in parents cars that is so loopy
"checkin" is one thing
this is quite another

PLEASE make sure all the kids you know have looked up their friends and seen the risk
Snapchat will only switch it off if (a) their data set becomes unreliable (b) somebody gets raped in that order

You (the teenager) can turn it off. One of my twins has but is enjoying seeing where his friends are on it! He said before he turned it off even if he just moved to the other side of our house it showed his movement which is amazing.

One of his friends says he usually knows where that son of mine is, though, as he is usually with his twin (who has not so far turned it off or had not by dinner last night anyway).

So many implications.

• Ghost mode indicates you are not real, sounds undesirable so people may be less likely to go into ghost mode. Sounds almost like a creep mode. Question is if you are in ghost mode can you still track other?

• Peer pressure X1000000. If you don't share your location you are not a full member of your network. Also you see where your peers are at any time so when they all gather and you are not invited there is lots of scope for feeling left out in realtime.

DH and i just talked about getting Fitness trackers. I like the motivational element a lot but feel very uneasy that my inner most working e.g. how I move, my heart rate, my activity patterns are shared.

Sci-fi has caught up with RL

On the whole I see these things as a good, not a bad. My son who has switched off the snapchat tracking is usually the one saying to me he has nothing to hide but even this is too much for him (I go on about privacy rights, often use cash to avoid being tracked, don't usually take my mobile with me when I go out etc....) He has had no trouble staying friends with his friends but taking the feature off,.

This is a good resource if your DC are likely to use SnapMaps www.childnet.com/blog/introducing-snap-maps-the-new-location-sharing-feature-in-snapchat

sitting here with DD, on seeing this thread I've asked her if she knows about this. She said yes and she thinks its a mad idea also lots of complaining online..apparently Snap Chat asks you to update to get Map, she and friends have all clicked no and will uninstall if Map becomes compulsory.

How are Snapchat allowed to do this?!

I've always thought that social media is the biggest form of data gathering/monitoring ever invented. And we opt into it so freely!

More than a thought, it's a fact.

Social media is not a service for users. It's a service for the operators and their commercial customers. When you join e.g Facebook, your life history and your personal data become its products that are sold to whoever wants them.

You can see how valuable your personal data is simply being looking at the vast profits made by FB, Google etc.

As long as people choose if they want it on or off I think it's fine.
This morning we did not know where my son's twin was (he's 18 and where he goes is up to him and he'd got up at 5.50am which is very rare). His twin used the snapchat feature to work out first he was at a gym near school and then in the school music department at a rehearsal (they just finished A levels so can come and go ) so it was pretty useful today actually.

As long as it's used responsibly (I.e. keeping it to close friends only or using ghost mode) I don't think it's too much of an issue - in fact I used it the other day to meet up with a friend and get a lift home

But yeah, quite concerning for kids/teens!! And I'm sure it'll cause drama, e.g. spotting their friends are all together and they weren't invited.

Scary how much of our lives are now on social media!!

One of my twins and I are finding it quite interesting. His twin left on eurostar this morning, did not respond to my text have you left London on time/caught the train yet of course.. being a teenager, but his twin was able to see his location - after an hour on Kent coast and then just now we can see he is on the French border/about to cross into Belgium.

Meanwhile his twin is fixing a gym truip and said normally if he is just going with one friend they don't mention to others who might fell left out but because they both now have this feature back on their friends will realise the squash is happening without them. SO it's interesting hearing all this feedback. It does not make me want to turn it on however and in fact I often don't take my phone when I go out and spend cash deliberately not a card.

I'm usually super hot on things like this and had location access turned off (as do all my adult DC) however I've just gone through my Snapchat setting and found that 'Show me in Quick Add' was turned on and Manage >>> Maps >>> Share Usage Data was turned on. Not cool SnapChat not cool.

I use a unique email address, a fake name and a fake b,day etc but I still hate to be tracked unnecessarily - I know I can't stop it but I can try....

Yes, I wish the defaults were always to the most privacy but I suppose lots of people don't mind it the other way round. I give talks on data protection and it's often 50./50 as to whether people want a lot of privacy or are happy with everything being out there. Always been like this - you can work with someone for years and not even know they are married as they are so private and yet someone else has almost told you her life story by the time you've found your desk at your new job.

I do what you do Lions and every time I get a new computer it seems to want to trap me into linking things up and connecting the dots. I suppose if I wanted total anonymity I would not post on line ever but I am not quite in that category. I often don't take my mobile when out and I often pay cash.

Maybe just as well to get your children off stuff like this, it's rubbish anyway.
Mine has gone back to texting as she says it's far safer.
Like a pp I too am surprised how many people object to id cards yet opt into Big Brother style social media.
The gov have been keeping tabs on us from when the internet was first conceived.

My dds are Snapchat users and told me about this function. It's nothing new though is it, can't you track people who have iPhones?

What exactly is the issue?