Thursday 10/16/14

The “Snappening” sounds like the name of a stupid movie, but that is what people are calling the hacking and release of around 100,000 Snapchat photos and videos. Snapchat, for those of you who are out of the know, is an app which allows users to share photos and short videos with one another. One of the appeals of Snapchat is that after being viewed once, the image or video is permanently deleted and can no longer be accessed by anyone. The sender takes a picture, sets the time (between one and ten seconds) and then sends it to the intended recipient. The recipient gets a notification that they have a new “Snap” and when they’re ready, they can view it. Once the Snap is initially opened, the timer begins, and when it’s up, the image is gone forever.

Except for when it isn’t.

The Snappening is proof that no system is foolproof, and it is also an occasion to talk about some interesting issues regarding technology and morality.

First, let’s start with hacking. Hacking is by its very nature, an invasion of privacy. There may be some instances where hacking is morally justifiable, for example military intelligence hacking into enemy information to help end a war quickly or eliminate a threat. However, the vast majority of hacking is done not for the good of society, but rather for theft, personal gain, or other ulterior motives. Those responsible for the hacking of the nearly 100,000 private images released on Sunday have demonstrated a lack of respect for privacy, decency, morality, and the law.

Snapchat was quick to distance itself from the issue. They released a statement saying: “We can confirm that Snapchat’s servers were never breached and were not the source of these leaks. Snapchatters were victimized by their use of third-party apps to send and receive Snaps, a practice that we expressly prohibit in our Terms of Use precisely because they compromise our users’ security. We vigilantly monitor the App Store and Google Play for illegal third-party apps and have succeeded in getting many of these removed.” Third party app Snapsave admitted that it had a breach, and immediately cleared its servers of any sensitive data. This made many people who regularly use Snapchat without third party apps feel safe again.

It shouldn’t.

The fact that this particular breach did not happen in Snapchat’s server does not mean that it could not happen in the future. In the past, hackers have broken into all kinds of servers, including breaches on the highest levels of government and military servers. The truth is, Snapchat is far from safe.

That is, if you use it in an unsafe way. Snapchat is not an inherently bad app. Millions of responsible users send appropriate Snaps every day. I’m one of them. I’ve sent four during the course of writing this article. The key to using Snapchat safely is to not believe that what you are sending is secure. If you would not want a stranger to see an image, do not send it.

Which brings up another point: if you would not want a stranger to see an image of you, you should not be taking it in the first place. “Sexting,” or the sending of sexually explicit messages or images, has risen to the point of social acceptance. From a Christian perspective, it is not acceptable. It undermines the dignity of the individuals involved as well as the sacred nature of marital relations