Snapchat Developers Have a Special Tool for Accessing User Data

Journalists from Vice Motherboard spoke with several former and current employees of Snap, the company that owns Snapchat, and also reviewed internal corporate emails obtained by the editorial team. It turns out that several departments within Snap not only have tools for monitoring users, but also actively use and even abuse them.

According to the publication, Snap employees have access to data such as user location, saved Snaps, and personal information including phone numbers and email addresses. Unsaved Snaps are typically deleted after being viewed or within 24 hours of posting.

One of the company’s internal tools, previously unknown to the public, is called SnapLion. It was originally created to collect data in response to official requests from law enforcement agencies. Employees from the Customer Ops (Customer Operations) and Spam and Abuse departments have access to this tool.

Journalists note that, according to Snap’s official guidelines for law enforcement, authorities can request data such as the phone number linked to an account, user location data, message metadata (which can reveal who a person communicated with and when), and, in some cases, the content of Snaps themselves, for example, from Memories.

Ultimately, according to the company’s internal emails, legitimate use of SnapLion is limited to fulfilling law enforcement requests and combating child abuse. However, former employees told the publication that staff often abuse these tools, although they did not specify exactly how.

Snap representatives assured Vice Motherboard that the company stores very little data about its users, and any unauthorized access to this information is immediately stopped and results in serious consequences.