Snapchat appeared to have briefly encountered a privacy glitch where its Snap Map feature was inadvertently showing the location of more users than it should have been. While the extent to the issue or those affected remains unknown, it once again highlights the general issues surrounding services that use location data for app features.

Snapchat might have started off simply enough as an app that lets users quickly share images that disappear soon after. However, it has expanded massively over the years with plenty of new features, including games. Back in 2017, Snap announced the launch of ‘Snap Map,’ which as the name suggests, added a new way for Snapchatters to find videos and friends, based on location.

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Unconfirmed user reports surfaced on Twitter and elsewhere over the last twenty-four hours, pointing to a Snapchat map glitch that caused more users to be shown on the map than usual. To put the issue into perspective, users were Tweeting how ‘everyone’ was suddenly showing up on the map, while others suggested that if location data was being publicly shared (for example, Ghost mode was not enabled), then they too might have been shown on the map. The full extent to the problem remains known, as does what caused it, although it is understood to have since been fixed.

Alarming, But A Temporary Snap Map Glitch

As quick as the reports came, they died down again, suggesting the issue was fixed soon after the problem was noted. However, it does go to highlight some of the concerns around a feature like this. Over the past few years, location data has become somewhat of a trending topic with many starting to worry how the data is being collected and used. In Snapchat’s case, when the feature launched there were additional concerns that users might be unaware that their location was being shared.

To be clear, Snap Map location data sharing is an opt-in feature. However, once opted-in, the location accuracy, and the fact that the information is broadcast to a user’s friends list, raised concerns over whether the app was revealing too much data. For example, Snap Map tends to show location data when the app is in use, making it a real-time method for others to find out where a user is, at that exact point, and sometimes, down to the street and block level.

This latest issue, while temporary, will further build on those concerns. Not only for Snapchat, but any app that collects and uses location data to power features, and especially when that same data is being made available to others. For those worried that their data might be shared without them knowing, they can check their current location sharing permissions by opening the settings menu on the Snap Map app page. In addition, it is worth checking to make sure Snapchat’s Ghost mode box is checked, as an extra level of protection.

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Source: Twitter