Warning to parents - Snapchat now shares your child's exact location with new feature
A warning has been issued to parents over a new 'stalkerish' tracker brought out on Snapchat that allows people to see exactly where their friends are.
The new Snap Map enables people to see in real time, not only the town and street, but even the house the user is in.
When you click it asks you to share your location in order to view the map and you then get the option to have your location shown to friends, everyone who follows you on Snapchat, or to be in 'ghost' mode so nobody can see it.
Snapchat released the ｕpdate saying: "We've built a whole new way to explore the world! See what's happening, find your friends, and get inspired to go on an adventure!"
But some parents groups are concerned about privacy and worried about who can find out their exact location.
They are being warned this could pose a risk to youngsters and leave them exposed to predators.
Mum Sarah Cullis from Newquay posted to social media saying: "The new snapchat ｕpdate is bad. Especially for young kids.
"I can literally zoom in on one of my snapchat friends and tell you what street they are in."
"This is mad and dangerous for young kids, this is something I'd normally post but parents make sure your child has got this switched to ghost mode like myself."
"This post is intended for people with young kids of maybe themselves who don't really know who is on their friend list."
"It's not hard to fake a Snapchat profile and could easily put someone at risk when someone knows your every move."
Anyone whose children have Snapchat is being advised to speak to them immediately to ensure they understand the risks of the new map.
Facebook page Social+ issued this warning: "Snapchat has introduced a new tracker in the ｕpdate where you can view the exact location of your friends.
"It can give you the area, town, and street and if you zoom in enough, it shows the house on the street layout.
"Please share this to make people aware, Snapchat has a lot of young users on, if your children are on please check that they have there location set to 'ghost mode', that way no one can see where they are.
"To do this make sure app is the ｕpdated version and go to selfie mode on the camera. Then zoom out. It will give you the option of changing to who can see your location."
The photo and video-sharing app has more than 55 million users in Europe and 10 million daily users in the UK.
Rival photo-sharing app Instagram already uses a mapping feature, which enables users to see content based on where it was posted.
Instagram and fellow Facebook-owned apps WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger have placed increasing pressure on Snapchat in recent months - adding features to their own platforms similar to that of Snapchat.
Snapchat's parent company Snap Inc. recently launched its first hardware product in the UK - video-enabled glasses called Spectacles, which record 10-second clips and save them to a user's Snapchat acｃount so they can be shared with friends.
A spokesman for Snapchat said: "The safety of our community is very important to us and we want to make sure that all Snapchatters, parents and educators have accurate information about how the Snap Map works.
"With Snap Map, location-sharing is off by default for all users and is completely optional. Snapchatters can choose exactly who they want to share their location with, if at all, and can change that setting at any time.
"It's also not possible to share your location with someone who isn't already your friend on Snapchat, and the majority of interactions on Snapchat take place between close friends."
Article Source: http://www.cornwalllive.com/warning-to-parents-snapchat-now-shares-your-child-s-exact-location-with-new-feature/story-30407652-detail/story.html
Image Source: http://i1.coventrytelegraph.net/incoming/article13220886.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/Snapchat-map.jpg
VOCABULARY WORDS:
1. Stalkerish (adj.) ~ characterized by or displaying an obsessive and inappropriate or unwelcome interest in someone
2. Rival (n.) ~ a person or thing competing with another for the same objective or for superiority in the same field of activity
3. Optional (adj.) ~ available to be chosen but not obligatory
4. Default (n.) ~ a preselected option adopted by a computer program or other mechanism when no alternative is specified by the user or programmer
5. Interaction (n.) ~ reciprocal action or influence
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:
1. Do you use snapchat? What are the features of this app?
2. What is your opinion on the recent updata of this app? Do you think that this feature can be constituted as invasion of privacy? Discuss your answer.
3. Have you ever thought about deleting all the information about you on the internet? Do you think it's possible? Explain your answer.
