Will Snapchat Remove Your Data From Its Servers?
Snapchat is a social networking platform that is popular among millennials and teens. The platform is mainly used to share snaps (photos or videos) with other Snapchatters. Once the user opens Snapchat, it is automatically deleted from the phone. These photos and videos might be deleted from your phone, but are you sure the data also gets deleted from Snapchat servers?
Will Snapchat Remove Your Data From Its Servers?
Snapchat does not save your deleted data forever. However, it is possible that your data can be stored on the Snapchat’s server for up to 30 days. Although, Snapchat does not keep your pictures for that long. Moreover, it is given under Snapchat’s Privacy Policy that all the user’s deleted data can remain in the Snapchat server for 30 days. It merely means that Snapchat doesn’t keep your data in its server unnecessarily. If you have sent a Snapchat to a friend who has not opened the message or has lost their phone, the lifespan of that Snapchat message will be 30 days. After that, the message will be automatically deleted for the recipient, the sender’s phone, and from the Snapchat server.
Even after deleting the picture from the Snapchat app, those pictures are still saved in the Snapchat server. Snapchat claims that once the photos and videos are sent through the app, they are deleted from the recipient and sender’s chatbox after they’re opened. However, some mobile forensics students revealed that in Snapchat, there is an element of the app’s code that keeps the photos, videos, and chats within the device rather than deleting them entirely.
All the deleted data is stored under a folder named “Received Images Snaps”. Those files are titles with a “No media” extension. It is tough, but not impossible to locate the deleted files. If you want to restore the deleted files, you can do so by changing the files’ extension, and it is a lengthy process which can take up to six hours.
Snapchat Screenshots
If you are a frequent Snapchat user, you are familiar with the fact that if anyone takes a screenshot of a Snapchat message, it shows the “Screenshot taken”. That means every Snapchat sent by a user is susceptible to a screenshot.
However, a Snapchat user can capture the snap of loved ones forever by holding power and volume buttons simultaneously.
This tool can be misused to take the pictures without the sender’s wishes, which is why you immediately receive a message of the taken screenshot. The Snap users should send their private pictures carefully and to known and trusted people only. First, your private data is saved in the Snapchat server, even after being deleted. Second, anyone can take a screenshot of Snapchat messages and keep it on their phone forever.
