Snapchat locking accounts

sw33t_r3v3ng3

It has come to my attention that Snapchat are now locking the accounts of users who use third party Snapchat applications. I find this quite invasive of my privacy. They do not provide an official Snapchat application for Windows phone so for the past 6 months i have been using 6snap. If they did provide an official application I would be happy to use that. I contacted their support team and sent the following message:

Hi there, i have been locked out of my account. I did not give permission for my account to be tampered with. If Snapchat developers actually decided to develop an application for Windows Phone then nobody would have this issue. If you cannot take the time and effort to provide your service to all platforms then i don't see the issue with a third party application. Snapchat says they have not yet released a 'Public API' for developers to use? So how do third party applications access Snapchat Servers and Databases? Let me take an educated guess, Firstly either your API isn't secure which opens a can of worms for Snapchat in regards to the Data Protection Act 2003, or Secondly your Applications and API are developed so insecurely that it allows even the least technical of people to "Reverse Engineer" your poorly built application. I will be looking forward to a reply from a representative of Snapchat in regards to (1) The handling and security of mine and other users data.
(2) The security/insecurity of the application and API.
It is also worth mentioning that I have the right to know how data and personal information of mine is stored and used under the Data Protection Act 2003
Thank you.

I am waiting on a reply at the moment, What do you think of this situation??

Paulw

sw33t_r3v3ng3 wrote: »

It has come to my attention that Snapchat are now locking the accounts of users who use third party Snapchat applications. What do you think of this situation??

You have no "right" to use the service. You use it, according to their terms and conditions. They are well within their right to bar the use of third party applications. They also have no obligation to develop an application for any specific platform.

sw33t_r3v3ng3

Paulw wrote: »

You have no "right" to use the service. You use it, according to their terms and conditions. They are well within their right to bar the use of third party applications. They also have no obligation to develop an application for any specific platform.

I completely understand that, but don't complain about a user using a third party application if you don't even develop one for that platform. I would understand the issue if it was a paid service and third party apps were taking revenue from them, however that's not the case

challengemaster

sw33t_r3v3ng3 wrote: »

I completely understand that, but don't complain about a user using a third party application if you don't even develop one for that platform.

If that's the case, they obviously haven't branched into that target market or perhaps they do not wish to. You're the one violating terms by using a service in a way they haven't designed, on a device they haven't intended.

galwayjohn89

As an aside, Does the data protection act apply to non Irish companies with no connection to Ireland?

Snapchat doesn't allow 3rd party apps. You used a 3rd party app. They blocked your account. Fair enough, fully within their rights to do so.

Cabaal

sw33t_r3v3ng3 wrote: »

I completely understand that, but don't complain about a user using a third party application if you don't even develop one for that platform. I would understand the issue if it was a paid service and third party apps were taking revenue from them, however that's not the case

But you agreed to their Terms & Conditions,
It doesn't matter if its Windows Phone or some obscure OS, you're breaking their terms & conditions by using a third party app. No if's or buts, its not really open to discussion.

You claiming you did not give them permission to "tamper" with your account is just plain silly and it shows that you appear to be clueless when sending them the e-mail.

If you don't like their Terms then don't use the service or choose a support phone OS. Its really very simple.

If they choose to release a Windows Mobile app then thats purely their decision, but its not something you can force them into. it has to make financial sense for them to release and provide support for a OS that for many it still seen as not very popular. There is a reason why Windows Mobile apps from many companys simply don;t exist, its just not as popular as Android or iOS.

They are well within their rights here to lock, close or delete accounts by users who breach their Terms, as long as its stated in their Terms.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

I can't see the tone of that email getting you a decent response. You are not entitled to anything. You are not abiding by their terms & conditions. They are not obliged to provide for your platform. You basically were attempting to utilise them by an unsanctioned route. No foul here!

sw33t_r3v3ng3

Lilly Itchy Petroleum wrote:

I can't see the tone of that email getting you a decent response. You are not entitled to anything. You are not abiding by their terms & conditions. They are not obliged to provide for your platform. You basically were attempting to utilise them by an unsanctioned route. No foul here!

I look at it like this, I may not be entitled to use a third party app to access their service, but why haven't they dealt with the third party apps on the windows store etc? Surely that's against their terms and conditions too? If they dealt with the problem at its source there would be no problem.

Paulw

sw33t_r3v3ng3 wrote: »

I look at it like this, I may not be entitled to use a third party app to access their service, but why haven't they dealt with the third party apps on the windows store etc? Surely that's against their terms and conditions too? If they dealt with the problem at its source there would be no problem.

You're looking at it the wrong way.

Anyone can develop software to do something it's not supposed to do. But, they have the right to stop anyone using software they don't approve of. Simple as that. They have no power to stop a third party app being sold (or freely distributed) on a third party store. But, they do have the power (and right) to terminate any account using third party software.

It is their service. They can decide who can and can't use it, and what software they can and can't use. What you give permission about is secondary, and in this case, totally irrelevant.

sw33t_r3v3ng3

Paulw wrote:

Anyone can develop software to do something it's not supposed to do. But, they have the right to stop anyone using software they don't approve of. Simple as that. They have no power to stop a third party app being sold (or freely distributed) on a third party store. But, they do have the power (and right) to terminate any account using third party software.

Actually they do have the power to report the app, which can then be removed as it more than likely violates the stores t&c

Celly Smunt

Close down 6 snap before launching the official app on windows. This is clearly what's happening.

Paulw

sw33t_r3v3ng3 wrote: »

Actually they do have the power to report the app, which can then be removed as it more than likely violates the stores t&c

They can report it, but that doesn't mean that MS must remove it. They have just taken an alternate approach and disabled your account. Not much you can do about it.

sw33t_r3v3ng3

Paulw wrote:

They can report it, but that doesn't mean that MS must remove it. They have just taken an alternate approach and disabled your account. Not much you can do about it.

Agreed, but the way they do it is probably not the most efficient way

Sonics2k

Remember that big ol' snapchat photo leak a few weeks back? Yeah, that was the result of people using 3rd party apps that were automatically downloading thousands of photos.

Stuff like that is a large part of the reason they are closing down the accounts.

salamanca22

There is no guarantee that the data on third party apps is not being stored elsewhere before being forwarded to snapchats services.

Look at it like this. You use an app that is not official. That app may or may not forward any images you send to their own servers first before sending it to snapchats main servers. They then decide to archive that data for whatever reason. Suddenly third parties servers have been compromised. All that data is now in the wind for anyone to look at. Then the hyperbole starts. Suddenly the daily mirror has an article up titled "Thousands of snapchat users data has been leaked!!!!"

People have already decided in their own heads that it is snapchats fault and not the fault of the third party. They are 100% right to cancel access to any application and users of such applications and have no obligation to make apps for any specific platform.

Grab All Association

Happened to one of my friends who has a WP. Reset your password on the Snapchat website then you can log back in to 6snap. Will keep blocking you though but just keep resetting.

Tippex

sw33t_r3v3ng3 wrote: »

Agreed, but the way they do it is probably not the most efficient way

How do you know that they have not already reported the app and actually got nowhere in getting it removed either by MS or the app developers?
In this case they are protecting themselves and it is a pretty common occurance now for users of unauthorised apps to be disabled.
This way if the app in question does not get removed from the store by them making accounts using said app unusable it will not be long before the app essentially dies (death by a thousand paper cuts or in this case death by a thousand account deactivations).

skinny90

How is this a consumer issue?

dudara

@skinny90 - If you have a problem with a thread, please report it using the Report Post function. Do not clutter up the thread.

dudara

sw33t_r3v3ng3

salamanca22 wrote:

Look at it like this. You use an app that is not official. That app may or may not forward any images you send to their own servers first before sending it to snapchats main servers. They then decide to archive that data for whatever reason. Suddenly third parties servers have been compromised. All that data is now in the wind for anyone to look at. Then the hyperbole starts. Suddenly the daily mirror has an article up titled "Thousands of snapchat users data has been leaked!!!!"

salamanca22 wrote:

There is no guarantee that the data on third party apps is not being stored elsewhere before being forwarded to snapchats services.

salamanca22 wrote:

People have already decided in their own heads that it is snapchats fault and not the fault of the third party. They are 100% right to cancel access to any application and users of such applications and have no obligation to make apps for any specific platform.

I never really looked at it like that, I must admit You have opened up my eyes.