Why did Snapchat get fined by the FTC?
Snapchat agreed an out-of-court settlement with the FTC, so were not fined but slapped on the wrist and given orders to improve their security system and information provided to users. The FTC complained that Snapchat were deceiving users by promising that the photos and videos that were sent would disappear forever. The FTC had evidence to the contrary. The FTC also complained that the Snapchat app took information from users without their consent or knowledge and failed to protect its users via the “Find Friends” feature. The latter reportedly lead to hackers being able to collect over 4 million Snapchat usernames and phone numbers (Snapchat now lets users spot this feature).
