Off the record in a chat app? Don't be sure

There is no “off the record” with Snapchat.

According to charges settled with the Federal Trade Commission, messages sent through the popular mobile service don’t disappear as easily as thought.

The rise of Snapchat was based on images sent to friends that vanished upon viewing – or so users thought. According to the New York Times, the commission charged there were several easy ways to save messages from the service, and in settling the accusations, the company agreed not to misrepresent the disappearing nature of its messages.

Just after the agreement, Snapchat officials (who, by the way, last year turned down a multibillion-dollar buyout offer from Facebook) said in a blog they’d be more precise in communicating with the Snapchat community:

“Even before today’s consent decree was announced, we had resolved most of those concerns over the past year by improving the wording of our privacy policy, app description, and in-app just-in-time notifications. And we continue to invest heavily in security and countermeasures to prevent abuse.”
 
Read more from the New York Times.