‘Sexting’ teens warned over hidden risk of Snapchat pics

A CONTROVERSIAL smart- phone app used by many teens to send naked pictures of themselves doesn’t automatically delete the pictures afterwards on some handsets, experts have warned.

Snapchat is a hugely popular app that allows users to send photos and videos which are only viewable for up to ten seconds before disappearing.

The app is popular among some teenagers who use it to send risqué photos of themselves – known as ‘sexting’.

The company has always insisted that once the time period has elapsed the message is deleted forever.

However, it has now emerged that Snapchat does not delete photos on Android phones – a specific and popular type of smartphone – it merely hides them in a folder on the phone. The photos or ‘snaps’ can be easily retrieved using a simple piece of software, sparking concerns about the content that could be stored on children’s phones.

Bully 4 U, a non-profit organisation that educates young people about cyberbullying, estimates that up to 90 per cent of Irish schoolchildren use Snapchat – even more than Facebook. And worry- ingly, it estimates that up to 40 per cent of these young people have engaged in sexting.

While Snapchat does delete photos on iPhones, they stay hidden on Android devices.

The National Parents Council has called on Snapchat to address the issue.

Snapchat did not respond to queries from the MoS this week in relation to the app.

Jim Harding, founder of Bully 4 U, said Snapchat is widely used for ‘sexting and cyber bullying’ and called on them to do more to educate their users. He added: ‘Possession of child pornography is a crime, even if you’re a child yourself.’