Yesterday Snapchat released an updated privacy policy. This is normal as from time to time, companies do make amendments. However what riled users up was in the policy, there was a section that seemed to suggest that Snapchat had the right to use and distribute your photos as they wish.
We know, it sounds pretty bad. The good news is that Snapchat has since come forward and clarified its policy. According to Snapchat, “First off, we want to be crystal clear: The Snaps and Chats you send your friends remain as private today as they were before the update.” So what’s with that section that states that they can distribute and use your photos?
Snapchat claims that the photos used will be from public snaps, and that they will be used to be syndicated across the world. “We need that license when it comes to, for example, Snaps submitted to Live Stories, where we have to be able to show those Stories around the world—and even replay them or syndicate them (something we’ve said we could do in previous versions of our Terms and Privacy Policy).”
The company goes to state that they have since reworded their policy to make it more understandable to the masses who don’t speak legalese. Snapchat isn’t the first company to cause misunderstanding over its privacy policy. Earlier this year Spotify themselves released an oddly worded policy that caused some users to be upset, which they then proceeded to clarify.