A recent report by Motherboard states that employees of Snap, the firm behind the popular multimedia messaging app Snapchat, abused internal tools developed for accessing user data in response to law enforcement requests backed up by subpoenas or court orders. In the absence of such requests, various Snap staff members nevertheless used the tools to access private user data.
The exposed data included photos and videos exchanged between users in private chats as well as email addresses, phone numbers and location data. Security experts say this incident serves as a reminder that user privacy always depends on the data gathering and data protection practices at companies, and shows how internal threats undermining such practices can put users at risk.
Read more: Snapchat Privacy Blunder Piques Concerns About Insider Threats
