Chris Jones: Green Publishing, Inc.
The popular social media application Snapchat has a new feature that is raising concerns with parents. The feature, called Snap Maps, allows users to pinpoint another user's exact location, down to a specific area, town, and street. Police in Gwinnett County, Ga. issued a warning, expressing their concern for the safety of children.
Essentially, the feature could allow predators to determine where kids live, go to school, and the routes they walk everyday. In Canada, the Winnipeg-based Canadian Centre for Child Protection issued an alert through its Cybertip.ca program about Snap Maps, saying users may not realize it updates their location each time they open the app, even when they’re not sharing stories.
The group also urges parents to talk to their kids about keeping their location private and ensuring their “friends” on Snapchat — and all social media — are people they have met in person.
A Snapchat spokesperson said in a statement that “the safety of our community is very important to us” and stressed that using Snap Map “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,” reads the statement. Snapchat has an online parents' guide offering tips on keeping teens safe while using the app, as well as an online “safety centre” where anyone can report a safety concern.