Snapchat's New Snap Map Feature Is a Bit Creepy: Here’s What You Should Know to Stay Private

Snapchat recently released a new feature, Snap Map, that lets you view an interactive map showing the location of where your Snap buddies last used the app.

It works when you’ve enabled your location features and you have a mutual friend who has too. Once on the camera screen, all you have to do is pinch as if you were zooming out and voila, you'll see a map complete with street names. You have now entered ultimate stalking mode. 

It’s an incredibly fun feature that lets you spook your friends by (pretty accurately) determining where they are or were in the last few hours.

But as with all things fun, there are quite a few issues that come along with it.

Alright, what’s the problem?

So, obviously, when you enable Snapchat's location filters, you are also now sharing your location on Snap Map with whatever randoms (or frenemies) you might have on there.

While letting your frenemy know where you are, down to the exact street you're on, may not be the worst thing ever, it can be considerably more dangerous telling strangers. You never know who might be lurking.

Also be aware that, if you have this feature enabled, as soon as you open Snapchat, it will update your location. If you're at home or work, you've just revealed your safe place to your whole friend list. SHUT IT DOWN.

So, how do I turn it off?

Fortunately, it's a pretty simple fix. The app's 'Ghost' mode allows you to stalk your Snapchat friends who have their location settings on, but doesn't let them see you. It still requires you, however, to have your location settings switched on. Though it sounds kinda great and might put you at ease, remember, all it takes is one flimsy, accidental flip of the 'Ghost' switch and your location will be visible to all once again.

To be on the super safe side, it's better to turn off the location settings for good and just switch them back on when you desperately need to see if your best friend really is having a quiet night in.

If you have an iPhone, just head to Settings and then Privacy and Location and switch it off. A lot of other apps like Uber and Instagram require you to have this setting switched on, so you may need to flick it back to use those; remember that before you use Snapchat again, as you may want to turn the settings back off.

For Android phones, it's basically the same. Head to Settings and then Location and select 'off'.

While it might be fun for now to ask your friend why they're currently at the local shopping centre on a school day, it's important to remember that your personal privacy is not-so-private anymore.

Instead, flick it to 'Ghost' mode and remember to turn the location settings off when you're not using it (or, turn them off for good).

Photo: Fox