Several child protection groups are warning that Snapchatsa国际传媒檚 new location-sharing feature could allow predators to more easily track young people.
The Canadian Centre for Child Protection and the digital literacy group MediaSmarts are among the organizations raising concerns about sa国际传媒淪nap Mapssa国际传媒� sa国际传媒� an opt-in feature that shares a usersa国际传媒檚 location on a map.
Experts say child predators who befriend young users could use the feature to figure out where they live, go to school, the route they walk every day, and eventually build up a picture of their routine.
The feature was included in a recent update to the social media app, which is especially popular with teens. It lets users send photos, videos, and messages that disappear after a set period of time.
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Users can select who can see where they are sa国际传媒� whether that be all friends, a select group, or no one, also known as sa国际传媒淕host Mode.sa国际传媒�
Earlier this week, the Winnipeg-based Canadian Centre for Child Protection issued an alert through its Cybertip.ca program about Snap Maps, saying users may not realize it updates their location each time they open the app, even when theysa国际传媒檙e not sharing stories.
The group also urges parents to talk to their kids about keeping their location private and ensuring their sa国际传媒渇riendssa国际传媒� on Snapchat sa国际传媒� and all social mediasa国际传媒� are people they have met in person.
Thierry Plante of the Ottawa-based MediaSmarts points to the sa国际传媒渢roubling consequencessa国际传媒� of allowing others to know your location.
sa国际传媒淚t becomes a very useful tracking tool for somebody who has other intentions,sa国际传媒� says Plante.
sa国际传媒淧arents do need to be very present in the digital lives of their children and have the conversation about how to use that feature, whether or not that feature is something they should be using or not, and then together sa国际传媒� if you have decided to use it, how to set the feature in a way to minimize that risk.sa国际传媒�
Childnet International also released a statement about the feature last week.
sa国际传媒淕iven how specific this new feature is on Snapchat sa国际传媒� giving your location to a precise pinpoint on a map sa国际传媒� we would encourage users not to share their location, especially with people they donsa国际传媒檛 know in person,sa国际传媒� the group said in a statement.
A Snapchat spokesperson said in a statement that sa国际传媒渢he safety of our community is very important to ussa国际传媒� and stressed that using Snap Map sa国际传媒渋s completely optional.sa国际传媒�
sa国际传媒淪napchatters can choose exactly who they want to share their location with, if at all, and can change that setting at any time. Itsa国际传媒檚 also not possible to share your location with someone who isnsa国际传媒檛 already your friend on Snapchat, and the majority of interactions on Snapchat take place between close friends,sa国际传媒� reads the statement.
Snapchat has an online parents guide offering tips on keeping teens safe while using the app, as well as an online sa国际传媒渟afety centersa国际传媒� where anyone can report a safety concern.
Cassandra Szklarski, The Canadian Press
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