Snapchat employees abused data access to spy on users | Reports claims use of internal tools to access user data
Two former workers of Snap Company spoke to Motherboard about the Snapchat employees using internal tools — which offer them privileged access to user data — to spy on people’s pages.
Four former employees, a current employee, and a cache of internal company emails obtained by Motherboard described internal tools that allowed Snap employees at the time to access user data.
- Motherboard revealed how Snapchat’s employees abused data access to spy on users.
- Several departments in Snap have dedicated tools to access user data.
- The data included location information, saved Snaps and personal info such as phone number and email address
One of the tools to access user data is called Snaplion, originally used to gather information on users in response to valid law enforcement requests, such as a court order or subpoena.
Internal data abuse is not rare
We have seen Facebook terminating their employees for stalking their ex-partners. In the case of Snapchat they don’t deny the accusations but boast about their security.
Thus, it is important that access to data is strictly regulated internally and that there are proper oversights and checks and balances needed.
