Evan Spiegel, Reggie Brown and Bobby Murphy meet and basically form the company. Originally self-destructing photos. Then Self destructing videos. Facebook tried to copy them. Big Brands and social media marketers endorsed it as the next BIG thing (not to say that is
Reading that back to myself and realizing that I inadvertently supported a conspiracy theory that Mark Zuckerberg was offended by Snapchat's declination, and created the malicious attack to get back at them....nah, it was probably just some kid who was upset about his girlfriend. <wait....
Now they have introduced SnapCash. A way to send money to each other through the app by entering your debit card information.
This is where I truly begin my article. I'll just give you the highlights now and you can read on for more info later: Snapchat has sketchy descriptions of how the service works, hacks, no care attitudes, lewd spammy advertising, and low scores with the government. So why would I want them handling my money?
I know, I know...so has every other social network. Does that alleviate your trust in them though?
First, let's talk about their data. Can your deleted data (you know: photos, videos, stories, texts) be retrieved? Yes. Snapchat is not any more secure than other 'Sharing' sites. Are they trying to curb the way we do social though? Yes, and it's a feature that is well received. Do you trust your monetary transactions to be completely secure? The correct answer should be 'No' with any facility that handles your transactions.
Next up are the Hacks. In 2013 SnapChat failed to patch an API vulnerability and was hacked by New Years Eve. 4.6 Million usernames and numbers were taken and it took a week for SnapChat to apologize and fix it. Then in 2014 over 100K images were stolen (from a 3rd party connector App...but nonetheless important to consider.) This event was called the 'Snappening.' Their lack of concern does not make me feel comfortable enough to hand out my Debit information. I feel like it's just another avenue to get ID theft-ed from a company that has previously procrastinated their fixes.
What about the Spam? Well Spam is always annoying but sometimes dangerous. In the popular 'Snap Spam' ordeal of 2012-13 spam was able to crash users phones or implant a virus. Viruses can corrupt data, log your keystrokes or access private information. Something I don't want happening when I'm sending or receiving money.
Finally there is the FTC Case that showed SnapChat collected user info in a way that ignored their own privacy policies. Here...just read about it here.
In conclusion I don't trust sending money through them. They aren't forthcoming, have delayed reactions to important hacks and spam, and are being watched by the FTC for the next 20 years because of privacy policy issues. Other networks have gone through similar issues but they have handled it with more immediate action (or their PR is amazing). Regardless of who has done what, you just need to look at SnapCash skeptically. There are so many ways to gain access to your personal information...why give them one more way through a social medium that has had issues with privacy in the past? This may go for sending money through any Online medium...
SnapChat has brilliant ideas and features. They grew faster than I have ever seen a social network grow. It may be too much too quickly. Until they get all their ducks in a row...they shouldn't be getting your Debit Card info. If you choose to go ahead there is one good thing about this; Square is the company that is holding your info. And they are much more secure and respectable than SnapChat. It's possible that they may get this right....but for the love of Pete....don't get all pissy when it happens to you. Because I told you to go ghost:
