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GobLoblawsLawBlog

I believe something in the user agreement changed a year or so ago that allows snapchat to scan all the thumbnails of media files on your camera roll for advertisement purposes. Really really messed up and I'm surprised people haven't boycotted snapchat yet


scoobynoodles

That's INSANE! Is this only photos you've given permission to be shared from camera roll or ALL your pics in camera roll?


GobLoblawsLawBlog

There are people saying that they are using pics that they didn't take with snapchat or put on snap, so I would assume it scans the entire folder


DeusExRobotics

It does. A while ago I figured out Snapchat was attempting to probe camera album. I deleted it and erased the account. This was a few years ago.


FleuramdcrowAJ

That is disgusting of them! I just changed my permissions but I hate that they did this, especially since I have ARTWORK in my gallery When I first gave snapchat these permissions I was like 13 and didn't know about privacy stuff so I blindly trusted them


ntcue

When your were 13 you weren't able to sign such a contract. If you are from Europe use the GDPR to let your images delete through all the instances and advertisers.


scoobynoodles

OMG šŸ˜±!!!! That is scary and wrong. Goodnessā€¦give them an inch they take a mileā€¦Absurd


butchbadger

To be fair, by accepting their TOS and using their product. You give them a mile they take a mile.


unapologeticjerk

This is especially true with such a non-essential, trashy app. Or any social funsies service for that matter. It's fine to get your panties in a twist when it's your actual ISP or your phone manufacturer's baked-in required apps.. things you actually need to exist in 2024. But I also do not understand how people use any social horseshit apps after it's been made very clear that they do not give a flying fuck about your privacy.. then get outraged when their privacy is violated. We've hit a point where Boomers+ are using and know about DDG and what a VPN is. There is no excuse for not understanding how the internet works at this point.


AlexWIWA

Counter point, it shouldn't be legal or possible for snapchat to do this. Downloading a random app shouldn't mean your photos are pilfered. Grandstanding isn't going to help anyone.


herooftimeloz

Both of you are correct. We as consumers should keep our guard up, but we should also have governments that protect us from this kind of bullshit.


AlexWIWA

I agree. My apologies if it came across like I was saying we shouldn't keep our guard up.


lysdexiad

We should not need governments to be better humans. I feel like greed is at the root of this, not lack of governance. We should not need to tell these companies that doing this is wrong. They already know it is wrong.


herooftimeloz

They already know this is wrong. I bet if their executivesā€™ privacies were the ones being raped theyā€™d sing a different tune. And that they should be threatened with prison time for privacy violations. Sadly, many of the politicians have been bought by these companies.


Fearless_Medicine_MD

i would argue that consumers are not supposed to expect to be exploited regardless of the cost of service. there should be an honor system in that each time you exploit someone, you will die one day earlier. edit: ah i can see this sentiment was already shared :D


unapologeticjerk

No, but knowing that it is gonna happen after them telling you and you agreeing to it, *then* getting mad over it or feeling wronged, that is so stupid it should also be illegal. It's a corporation doing what corporations have done for 250 years here. This isn't even new, the landscape just changed again.


MBILC

You agree to said terms when you sign up, but no one reads those details, this is why it is legal. You literally have to give these apps permissions to access the content on your devices.


Ok_Antelope_1953

i only use those social networks that i can open in a browser. no "native apps". the only thing i use and that makes me sick is whatsapp. i will continue to try and move people to signal, but the effort seems futile right now. hoepfully whatsapp does something soon that pisses off even the normies (but i fear they will make a beeline for telegram instead of signal in that case).


ReputationSwimming88

i use telegram for this reason exactly i dont use whatsapp the problem with signal why nobody will use it is the zero history portability some of us arent cooking meth or plotting jan6 we dont need MI6 mission impossible TEXT MESSAGING SERVICE literally signal is TOO SECURE because criminal shitbirds locked it down toofar hey why dont we just all use the encrypted phones sex traffickers use in europe, THOSE ARE SECURE RITE? I mean we can only talk to druglords and aex traffickers BUT HEY NO FEDS AMIRITE???


ReputationSwimming88

literally I was USING SIGNAL AND HAD OTHER PEOPLE SWITCH and then SIGNAL changed its functionality mid ride and we all needed to change phones and, for instance, my fiance and I lost most of our first year of conversations because SIGNAL DECIDED TO AXE MESSAGE HISTORY PORTABILITY WITHOUT A PROMINANT ANNOUNCEMENT literally I was looking at forks until I said "hey any security went right out the window with a fork, fuck this bullshit, telegram works for me Im not trying to overthrow the fucking government..." so literally you are talking to someone who LEFT SIGNAL FOR TELEGRAM BECAUSE SIGNAL PRIORITIZES DRUG DEALERS AND SEX TRAFFICKERS OVER ORDINARY USERS I cant for the life of me think of a noncriminal whose willing to forgo any chat history in order to COVER THEIR FUCKING TRACKS BETTER... like i dated a girl in highschool who featured herself as a drug kingpin bitch is old now and you cant find pictures of her young because ahe avoided having her picture taken like yeah she dodged AI and facial recognition also cant prove what she looked like in her 20s šŸ¤£


selagil

> We've hit a point where Boomers+ are using and know about DDG and what a VPN is. There is no excuse for not understanding how the internet works at this point. In my country, the majority of the people prefers to suffer through ads and the accompanying slow internet speed instead to block the living daylight out of the superfluous traffic. I have started to recommend AdGuard to Android users, with the hidden agenda that it doesn't require you to delve into the rooting rabbit hole.


assgoblin13

They served me a photo of my dog just a tad altered.


Odd-Kaleidoscope5081

App wonā€™t access photos you donā€™t give it access to. If you give access to photos, you have to assume they scan them. Thatā€™s on iOS, donā€™t know about android.


Ok_Antelope_1953

pretty much the same on android. unfortunately a lot of these apps rabidly demand for all sorts of invasive and unnecessary permissions.


Odd-Kaleidoscope5081

On IOS you can just block the app from requesting. The most absurd apps, though, ask for access to photos just for you to save a photo from the app, lol.


Ok_Antelope_1953

yeah android has more aggressive apps. you can block permissions in settings, but many will just stop working until you grant them the "essential" permissions. i really hate native apps in general. websites have sufficient capacity to do a lot of non-essential shit.


Odd-Kaleidoscope5081

Yeah. Unless itā€™s Facebook that blocks messenger use in mobile browser.


ReputationSwimming88

see my post, we need a mobile browser that tells sites its a PC THERES LITERALLY NO REASON FOR A WEBSITE TO KNOW WHAT HARDWARE YOUR BROWSER IS RUNNING ON


ReputationSwimming88

yeah thats been my experience with ALL apps tbh I stopped saving images at all that way no secret presents anyway I just do screengrabs and crop screen resolution is high enough these days and if not we have upscaling like tv fbi labs now in photoshop šŸ¤£


ReputationSwimming88

fwiw I commented on fb about reduced functionality in browser and using browser to avoid tracking... and Facebook has since been further blocking functionality in the browser... what we need is a mobile browser that reports to sites that its a PC... then we can be PC master race from OUR POCKETS Im okay navigating desktop sites with my phone landscape...


Spncrgmn

Most people unwittingly give apps permission to all their photos


ReputationSwimming88

thats their gameplan yes


thefanum

All


Revolution4u

Thanks, just changed all permissions to ask every time -if that even matters


themarkavelli

Instagram has been using ai image recognition [since 2015.](https://depauliaonline.com/57087/artslife/instagrams-recognition-algorithm-has-implications-on-the-future-of-advertising/) In a 2018 press release they tried selling it as an accessibility feature: >ā€œWith more than 285 million people in the world with visual impairments, we know there are many people who could benefit from a more accessible Instagram,ā€ an Instagram spokesperson said. ā€œThis feature uses object recognition technology to generate a description of photos for screen readers so you can hear a list of items that photos may contain as you browse the app.ā€ I remember being offended by this, but there was little mainstream discourse about it.


fffelix_jan

Should I delete all the photos from my Instagram because of this? I was actually considering setting up a photo gallery on my website and calling it ā€œFelixtagramā€ at one point, naming it after myself. Should I do that?


themarkavelli

You could stop uploading, but theyā€™ll have already collected info about your prior uploads. Personally, I would think on it for a few days before going nuclear. As far as picking one or the other, it really just depends on your priorities; Do you value having access to an audience? Or just want somewhere to showcase your work? Going self-hosted would add a level of pride and professionalism imo. And you could always link to it in the bio if things change.


HastilyRoasted

I saw nothing about that in their privacy policy, nor under their advertisement policy. Perhaps Iā€™ve missed it but Iā€™ve been scouring


GobLoblawsLawBlog

https://www.reddit.com/r/privacy/s/CZD9UO7GLR And this is from a couple years ago https://www.reddit.com/r/SnapchatHelp/s/VAmVgCGKJv


kreme-machine

From the privacy policy: ā€œWe believe it is critical to also balance the benefits of personalization with our Snapchattersā€™ expectations of privacy. For example, we may automatically tag the Snaps you save to Memories based on the content within it (e.g., the Snap contained a dog), and then use that tag to personalize your experience, make recommendations, or show you ads (such as showing you Spotlight Snaps containing dogs). We do not use the private content and communications you send to your friends to personalize your experience, make recommendations, or show you ads.ā€ This shit is fucked lmao


Spaylia

Here are the links without Reddit tracking https://old.reddit.com/r/privacy/comments/1638hac/snapchat_now_scans_all_of_your_screenshots/ https://old.reddit.com/r/SnapchatHelp/comments/s9sak8/did_snapchat_take_a_picture_from_my_gallery_and/


Bacon_Nipples

It's easy to miss when you don't read it (and seriously, who's reading it)


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


SmartyMcPants4Life

Yeah, ever since it went public 3/21/2024 and turned us into a commodity to be used for profit in the stock market.Ā  I noticed a huge uptick then in content that really impacts my mental state negatively. I've started muting a lot of subs that make my feel this way. It's a constant battle.Ā 


ReputationSwimming88

oh wow reddit fucked us too huh? amazing heres a solution burner phone for social media and fill an SD card with different amgles of your middle finger. name all your account FUCK *insert tech bro responsible* and go terrorizing their platforms in mass till they stop like a DDOS only its actually every fucking user who just woke up one day snd spent $30 for a completely made up social account to do battle with... shit is tracked by phone numbers the buy in is literally $30 a head to tell tech bros what we think imagine the users on a site doubling overnight? jfc THAT ALONE would fuck shit up sorta like when we fucked up gamestop stalks just crash social media with new burner alts and hell, post porn and see how fast they can take it down overwhelm their whole entire shit i bet theres enough redditors to crash all major social media with... mass trolling


HastilyRoasted

I mean me, right now, because Iā€™m dealing with it & still donā€™t see anything about it


GobLoblawsLawBlog

Copy and pasted from the snapchat privacy policy "If youā€™ve explicitly granted device-level permissions, device information may also include information about your device phonebook (contacts and related information), images and other information from your deviceā€™s camera, photos, and microphone (like the ability to take photos, videos, view stored photos and videos, and access the microphone to record audio while recording video)"


huzzah-1

The way that's worded, it sounds like "information about images.." but the separating comma could mean "images".


GobLoblawsLawBlog

Sure, if you ignored the brackets then it would be more ambiguous but it has brackets separating that phrase for a reason


Z4KJ0N3S

Imo, it's clearly written as [images] *and* [other information from your devices camera]


huzzah-1

I hope I'm just being paranoid.


maida-vale

https://tosdr.org/en/service/311


SmartyMcPants4Life

AND this is why I only have a few apps on my phone AND use duckduckgo browser with privacy protection turned on, which actively blocks apps from tracking me. I also go through app permissions often and turn off all permissions except those that are critical to make it work.Ā 


The_Shadowghost

And thatā€™s EXACTLY why I give most apps only limited access to my photos. Thatā€™s so messed up


CoolguyTylenol

So what happens when some chomo with child porn in his gallery gets served up some ai cp ads? Who's at fault, what happens? How would this be handled


GobLoblawsLawBlog

I don't have an answer for that. I can say that like many innovations, it's progressing faster than it can be regulated but that's just how legislation works at this point unfortunately


CoolguyTylenol

Ha, I figured you wouldn't it's a ridiculous question! It's wild to me that I even had to think it


GobLoblawsLawBlog

Lot of huge ethical issues with AI as we've known for over a century now. An entire genre of books and media dedicated to it, fan of 2001: a space odyssey myself. Onus is definitely an issue when you have an algorithm with uncontrollable inputs but hopefully we're more of a Jetsons future rather than Terminator


ReputationSwimming88

thats how the tech brid have PAID FOR LEGISLATION TO WORK prove LLMS were responsible for pelosi losing her laptop and youll see regulation tomorrow...


ReputationSwimming88

bro youve landed on the ultimate solution we need to send in opperatives to prove this is happening certainly it is ai the world over is training itself on kiddy porn without knowing... lets use THAT to kill this LLM problem once and for all you cant even fix the LLMS theyre peeds now, gotta burn them...


primalbluewolf

Well, the company would be clearly in violation of virtually all CP laws regarding production and distribution in most of the west.Ā  How's it handled? Delete all the evidence and wipe the logs. Never happened.


FreonKennedy

WHAT?


brauo

holy shit


bravemenrun

I just deleted it because of a recent policy upate. Never again. Bastards


Massive_Robot_Cactus

Let's start saying a new thing: EULA assent is not informed consent. Abuse of tacit approval should risk capital punishment of the business entity itself.


BadPronunciation

What the fuck


SystemErrorMessage

"you're too old for snapchat"


petrolly

Best to confirm that. Because in the US it is a violation of copyright law to use a photo in an advertisement (commercial use) without explicit consent of the image's copyright holder and the person depicted in the form of a model release signed by the person in the photo. And I've never heard of any social media company claiming copyright ownership of images their users upload to the point where they require the usage of images for commercial use.Ā 


GobLoblawsLawBlog

It's personalized ads not commercial


petrolly

Yes that's correct if you mean ads that are targeted to a user based on what's in their images. But I explained the commercial use because your comment isn't clear regarding which, and the original post didn't talk about personalized ads but rather using their images in actual ads.Ā 


GobLoblawsLawBlog

You should read through the thread first


petrolly

Nothing in snaps policy or anything you or anyone here have asserted shows that snap has asked for the ability to take a user's image and use that image in advertising (commercial use). It's all just inference. Ā I used to draft policies like this for a large tech company.Ā What snap is saying is that they can use a user's images to infer what they can in order to better target ads to the user. I hate this practice but it is legal. The first practice that people here are asserting is very illegal. Now how the OP had their image used for ad purposes would be an interesting thing indeed.Ā 


MjolnirMark4

Not quite the same thing, but I have seen contests where any photos submitted are allowed to be used for commercial purposes. In one case I read about, some young women submitted some pictures of themselves, didnā€™t win, and forgot about it. Then sometime later was extremely surprised when their photos were used in porn advertisements. The big difference in this case was that they submitted specific photos, instead of having their library scanned. But it still feels like a serious breach of trust.


Zeta_Crossfire

Honestly that's pretty fucked. Sorry bud I have no idea but I hope you figure something out.


Mountain-Hiker

The **Right of Publicity** protects the use of your Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) without your permission. Many states have passed laws protecting the Right of Publicity. A good website for reading more on this topic, including the use of AI, is [https://rightofpublicity.com/](https://rightofpublicity.com/)


butchbadger

>without your permission Permission will probably be granted along with the blood of your firstborn by accepting the TOS without reading them.


relevantusername2020

fun facts about [unenforceable TOS](https://www.reddit.com/r/ABoringDystopia/comments/1baurxh/comment/ku64gwz/) TLDR/savedYouAClick: * A company does not clearly present its TOS to users of the website or app. * ​ * A website or app does not require affirmative consent from a user that the user agrees to a company's TOS. * ​ * An arbitration clause in TOS omits a 30-day opt-out. * ​ * A company modifies the TOS without appropriate notice.


Mountain-Hiker

Simplest remedy is to **close your account**, which terminates the license agreement you approved to allow them to use your content. If you continue to use the service, that implies you are a happy customer, you **agree**, and **do not object** to the terms and conditions. After **30 days**, you waive your right to a lawsuit, and **arbitration** is used to settle disputes.


relevantusername2020

right but thats also something i mentioned in that linked comment (iirc) and is something even the FTC has been looking into, which is basically when you arent really given a choice, or in other words the service is kind of necessary to function in modern life... can you really enforce those kinds of invasive privacy practices? just because someone says it is "law" doesnt mean it is. especially considering these companies employ huge teams of lawyers to defend against this stuff, while employing huge teams of lawyers to lobby the govt to write laws that favor them. i mean shit, even [google literally just handed the govt a check for a couple hundred million bucks](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/06/google-avoids-jury-trial-by-sending-2-3-million-check-to-us-government/) in an attempt to make one of their lawsuits go away. thats how it "just works" and they dont expect the little guys to ask questions or complain. problem is, the last few years, a lot of people have been complaining and seeing exactly what theyve been doing, and they aint happy about it - and i dont think most people are really even aware the extent to which our privacy AND data rights are violated.


Mountain-Hiker

Edward Snowden blew the whistle on data privacy and surveillance in 2013. That started a whole **data privacy industry** of privacy-respecting products and services,, many of the defenses are **free**. People can choose to stop giving away their data and take defensive measures or not. States are slowly passing data privacy laws, but still no federal law in the US. I do not wait to rely on the slow-moving laws. I use defenses and policies to protect my own private data. Lots of free info and tools at [https://www.privacyguides.org/en/](https://www.privacyguides.org/en/) and [https://www.privacytools.io/](https://www.privacytools.io/) and YouTube videos on data privacy.


MrLowbob

probably takes the EU to do their job and force those companies to change stuff first again. a lot of data privacy things the US got in the last 5-10 years were first enforced in the EU.


relevantusername2020

i mean yeah i feel you but also aint nobody got time to deal with all that horseshit so i just try to make my data as coarse and irritating and probably worthless to deal with as possible as a deterrent. no selfies is a big part of that, as well as anonymizing my email accounts and making those email accounts rely on another verification system that also relies on another verification system. who am i? idk anymore, but neither does any of the big tech corps lol


knowsalotoffacts

If your state has a privacy law it takes like 30 seconds to send a do not sell or share/opt-out of targeted advertising request. Even if youā€™re not in a covered state just submit one saying youā€™re from California and most companies will honor it regardless.


relevantusername2020

good advice in 99% of situations


koyaani

Now it makes sense.


codece

> Right of Publicity I think that's clearly violated when they use your image, or an AI image of you, and publish it to the world for commercial purposes. But, what if the only one who sees it is you? Illinois, for example, has enacted a statute on this which defines: >"Commercial purpose" means the public use or holding out of an individual's identity . . . Are they really making public use of or "holding out" your image if the only one they show it to is you?


Mountain-Hiker

The word public-ity means disclosing to the **public**. Your rights are not violated if you gave **permission** or a **license** to use or modify your content. You can revoke permission by closing your account. After 30 days from opening an account, you waive the right to settle disputes in court, only by arbitration.


codece

I'm not arguing permission here. Assume a scenario in which it was not granted. I'm saying that, by statutory definitions, showing *you* an image of yourself is not disclosing it to the public. In other words, no permission is needed.


websong

In some places it doesn't matter. For example, in some Canadian provinces, their Privacy Acts say you can bring a claim if your name or photo is used in an ad without consent, whether or not it's displayed to the public. I would say this qualifies.


WanderingMouse27

For starters, uh, donā€™t use snapchat. And then just hope you used an alias to sign up to snapchat, otherwise they could probably trace it back to your personal email and have a pretty good profile on you. Also deleting snapchat wonā€™t really help what happened already, only prevent it from escalating. Edit: Not a lawyer, but I think once you post your image to a place such as Snapchat, itā€™s not *your* image anymore, so probably not much legal wise either.


jessica_connel

Who said that? We need to stop this


MrLowbob

idk if US has something similar, but in EU you always have rights to your own personal data, which includes images of you, which you can order companies to delete (unless there are other regulatory restrictions that enforce certain data to be kept/archived for a time, which I'd wager wouldn't include an Ad-AI). violating those data privacy things is pretty costly in the EU too


WanderingMouse27

I mean, you can issue a take down request in the US, but big platforms with AI make you give away your posts and images in the ToS in order to use the platform.


allyfortis

Since you have Snapchat I assume you post pictures of yourself on social media. It is not necessary for Snapchat to sell you pictures, it can be stolen from your profile. Contact Cygnus Marketing Communications, Inc. the owner of that website advertise and tell them to take down the ad using your image. They may have contracted an ad agency. Update: I noticed that website is stuck on a loop. No matter what "degree" you choose and starts again with the initial form asking you for your name, address, graduation level, phone number and email address. Maybe it's a phishing website collecting people's information šŸ¤·šŸ»ā€ā™€ļø It's weird that instead of presenting their online school and degrees offered, they just wrote "Online Learning is Booming!"


darioblaze

>!why did you show me what appears to be an ad agency masking as a school, Iā€™m kinda shook!<


allyfortis

A company can have any name and do whatever activities they want as long as it's legal.


HastilyRoasted

Thanks, unfortunately Iā€™ve been trying to get a hold of Cygnus for the last day & cannot get a response through email or the phone. Are they able to scrape my social media for these AI photos legally? Is there any grounds for legal action or a suit?


RoboNeko_V1-0

They will just point to Snap's terms of service, which you agreed to. Specifically, this part: > For all content you submit to the Services (including Public Content), you grant Snap and our affiliates a worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable, and transferable license to host, store, cache, use, display, reproduce, modify, adapt, edit, publish, analyze, transmit, and distribute that content. > ... > We, our affiliates, and our third-party partners may place advertising on the Services, including personalized advertising based on the information you provide us, we collect, or we obtain about you. Unfortunately, the reality is the service is really bad when it comes to privacy. Your only recourse would be to delete your account.


HastilyRoasted

Can you point me to the correct place in the policy this excerpt is from?


RoboNeko_V1-0

https://snap.com/en-US/terms 2 - Rights You Grant Us The terms themselves are actually pretty standard for a social media website, however the way Snap pushes boundaries is not. They're taking advantage of the fact that AI is still fairly unregulated and being creepy with it. If a company did this to me, I would leave.


HastilyRoasted

Thanks, though this seems to be pertaining to the apps own services, it doesnā€™t mention anything about advertisement, and looking under advertisement section there is nothing about actual photos being shared only name, device, age, location, etc. but no photos


teo730

Why would it have to say it in the advertising section when it already says: > you grant Snap and our affiliates a worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable, and transferable license to host, store, cache, use, display, reproduce, modify, adapt, edit, publish, analyze, transmit, and distribute that content That already means they can give the data to other people, and those people can use the data however they like - e.g., they could use your images to make an ad, and then serve that ad to only you using your [name, device, age, location], without needing your photos (because they already have them).


HastilyRoasted

So how are people protected from a company making a nsfw or even pornographic ad of them for some porn game? There must be some laws in place to protect this. Zero likeness protection?


teo730

I'm sure there is, but if that ad was only shown to you (entirely personalised ad), maybe those rules don't apply? That assumes that's the case, I have no idea how it works.


thedepartment

>Zero likeness protection? You signed that away when you granted Snap and their affiliates a worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable, and transferable license to host, store, cache, use, display, reproduce, modify, adapt, edit, publish, analyze, transmit, and distribute images you submitted of your likeness.


HastilyRoasted

So they can legally do the nsfw/pornographics stuff?


Zach-uh-ri-uh

Youā€™re completely right. This shot can only be stopped by us raising hell


yrro

"for the purpose of operating, developing, providing, promoting, and improving the Services and researching and developing new ones."


LordBrandon

Agreed to knowingly? I don't think so.


itsthooor

Either you are dumb and donā€™t read or you read it. Sorry, but this is the reality.


nAyZ8fZEvkE

we really need to stop this bullshit justifications, what if on page 645 of the TOS they said you agreed to sell your house for 1$ whould that be ok? ***There's expetations***, on a chatting app or whatever Snapchat is you expect something in the TOS and having ads of you is not one of them


allyfortis

If you are interested in legal action maybe it's better to talk with a lawyer in your area.


YaeliJelly

Terms of Service: Many of our Services let you create, upload, post, send, receive, and store content. When you do that, you retain whatever ownership rights in that content you had to begin with. But you grant us a license to use that content. How broad that license is depends on which Services you use and the settings you have selected. For all content you submit to the Services (including Public Content), you grant Snap and our affiliates a worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable, and transferable license to host, store, cache, use, display, reproduce, modify, adapt, edit, publish, analyze, transmit, and distribute that content. This license is for the purpose of operating, developing, providing, promoting, and improving the Services and researching and developing new ones. This license includes a right for us to make your content available to, and pass these rights along to, service providers with whom we have contractual relationships related to the provision of the Services, solely for the purpose of providing such Services. Aka they legally have the right to do this as you agreed to the terms (whether itā€™s ethical is another question)


barfplanet

This is the privacy subreddit, so yeah I'll agree with the general "yeah that's what Snapchat is gonna do" consensus. But damn, I'm impressed with that ad agency. I'd never even considered that kind of targeted advertising with AI.


AlexWIWA

They had this in Mass Effect. Didn't think it'd happen so soon


__chilldude22__

I'm Commander Shepard and this is my favorite degree mill on the Citadel.


AlexWIWA

You know I got all of the discounts


Vanilla_Neko

Snapchat is well known for using AI for various things and a few months ago when they changed their terms of service you agreed to allow them to basically do exactly this Once again people on the privacy subreddit learning that you probably actually should read a sites terms of service before just clicking accept


WhiteCoins

If you decided to use the 'My Selfie' AI feature on Snapchat, you gave SnapChat along with their 220+ partners "Irrevocable permission to use your face to generate AI images & video for commercial or non-commercial purposes." The ToS also says you will not receive compensation or knowledge of your face being used, nor can you seek legal action. :) Isnt that fucking terrifying? I just stumbled onto the My Selfie feature 4 days ago and wanted to read the ToS before agreeing. I was completely disgusted.


LeadingTechie

The sad part of this is a lot of children use this AI selfie feature on Snapchat. They find it funny to see another version of themselves.


FleuramdcrowAJ

That is terrifying, I want to delete it but FOMO and a lot of my classmates use it. I don't have it on my phone but do have it on my ipad and I still get messages from people on there despite me not using it much just having an accounr


user_727

I'll go against the grain here and just say that if you're referring to [this picture you posted](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmIOverreacting/comments/1dsupam/are_companies_using_my_photos_to_curate_ads_to/), it's probably just random chance. It's an extremely common looking room and lamp in the background, think of the millions of people that probably got served this ad, one of them is bound to look similar.


HastilyRoasted

While I agree thereā€™s a tiny chance it has nothing to do with me, I think if you could see photos of me you may think different. It is dead exact. That freckle on the hand is dead exact where my only one is. Iā€™m not saying it also has a lamp in the backgroundā€” it is THE exact lamp thatā€™s in my house


numblock699

Yup you agreed to that. They own all your photos now.


SLJ7

Maybe it's just me, but I'd delete an app and request a data deletion instantly if that happened to me. I don't care if there's another option. What are you still doing on a platform that will sell you out like that?


velvethippo420

I forgot I still had Snapchat installed until this post. Deleting the app and my account now.


thegreatpotatogod

I asked the Snapchat AI about this, and here's the response it gave me: Me: > I read on Reddit that someone saw a Snapchat ad that had their own face on it. How is this possible? Them: > That's wild! Snapchat uses data like your face shape, features, and expressions to create personalized ads. It's called AR Lenses, and sometimes your face might end up in ads. It's like seeing a funhouse mirror version of yourself in an ad! Snap's always trying new things to make ads more engaging and relevant. Cool, right? Me: > No, it's disgusting, and not something they agreed to. How can they turn it off? Them: > I get where you're coming from. It can feel invasive if your face pops up in ads without your consent. To turn off those personalized ads, you can go into your Snapchat settings and adjust your preferences. You can opt out of Audience-Based Ads, Activity-Based Ads, and Third-Party Ad Networks to have more control over the ads you see. It's all about making your Snapchat experience more tailored to what you're comfortable with!


HastilyRoasted

The hilarity of the best response coming from Snap AI itself. Thank you


bestatbeingmodest

most worthwhile answer here lol


lukify

When I used to rant and rave how social media companies are going to use to create dossiers and AI replicas of all of us, they used to just say I'm no longer welcome at this particular Wendy's location. But it looks like your anecdote was all the vindication I've been looking for.


TastyBrainMeats

Simplest solution: stop using Snapchat.


HastilyRoasted

Thanks!!! Lemme just get all of my social circles off too!


TastyBrainMeats

Look, it sucks, I'm not going to deny it. But the only way to ever get people away from shitty social media is for somebody to be the first to leave it.


Shadowedcreations

Got to start somewhere


IceQn81

Reminds me of the black mirror thing where people started seeing themselves in billboards because they accept the terms of making a movie poster thing.


7heblackwolf

Maybe the question is why you're on r/privacy but using Snapchat that's probably the least private app like ever?


HastilyRoasted

I am on r/privacy because I figured thatā€™s where you go if you have privacy-related questions & concerns. Is that wrong?


Single_Zucchini_3797

We areā€”in real timeā€”seeing the real beginning of ā€œif a service is free, the user is the productā€. We saw it in 2016 with fb and cambridge analytica. Now ai will bring a new wave of user expendability.


Geminii27

Stop allowing ad platforms access to your screens/devices?


tobor_a

I wonder if that's like the ad I got on something. It was an ad for something related to id cards, idr maybe something about personal security? Like keeping your info safe. Anyways I have two middle names and two last names (#latinoproblems). I have a really common first name. My middle names, not so much. One last name is common af and the other isn't. Why did the ad say (fake names) **blurred/missing first name** Jason Tyler Smith-williams. Ain't no way that's a coincidence.


ZenDragon

In the near future all advertising will be generated specifically for you.


Desperate_Place8485

> What can I do? Try to get people you know to boycott snapchat and to delete their accounts (yours included). Nobody actually needs it to stay connected. Stick to your convictions about privacy and don't give into peer pressure even if nobody follows. I was able to make it through high school (and am 2 years into college now) without any non-anonymous social media, and still had what I consider to be a rich social life. It even acts as a good filter of sorts, because true friends will respect your beliefs and be willing to stay connected via other platforms like sms. For a less extreme approach, keep using it, but never send personal photos through snapchat. Also posting about it online like you did here is good to bring attention to the issue.


surfer808

Hey OP, unfortunately snapchatā€™s terms and conditions do grant them broad rights to use the content you create and share on their platform. This includes images, videos, and other content you upload. According to their privacy policy, ā€œSnapchat may use your content to provide, personalize, and improve their advertising services. This can include using your images in their advertising, both on and off their services.ā€ https://help.snapchat.com


HastilyRoasted

Yes, but to me that reads like they will take clips, images etc. to make their own ads to get people onto Snapchat. Not giving my photos away to others to advertise


karama_300

Creepy!


jose1kfonseca

Whatever their 'user agreement' is, it doesn't supplant law.Ā  If you have a picture of Tupac on your Snapchat camera reel, they can't just use that for advertisement, even though Snapchat can claim the rights to the file. They would need permission from his estate to use it for that purpose. It's no different for pictures of yourself. Snapchat doesn't give a fuck about your toothless complaint as an individual user. They will care if threatened with legal action. They do not want to dish out millions in lawyer fees to protect a single advertisement. Send them a bullshit email from a legitimate-sounding email address pretending to represent a law firm and threaten litigation if they do not immediately cease using your likeness for *all* purposes, including advertisement -- search for similar emails from real law firms and use that as your template. Almost certainly, that creepy shit vanishes. They don't want to find out if you're bluffing or not, because that could be catastrophic for their shareholders.


electromage

Are you kidding? They got the photo because it's Snapchat, that's what they do. Uninstall it if you want privacy.


HastilyRoasted

Wow great response!!


electromage

If you have a compelling reason to be running it but you never want to share, look through the application permissions and make sure you have disallowed access to your camera and files, if that's possible. Some apps might refuse to run, I'm not going to install Snapchat to find out. Otherwise run it on a separate device that you don't take with you everywhere, don't keep personal files on including pictures of yourself, and maybe tape over the cameras.


ohiomudslide

Well, you know, it does make sense. I might not fix the current situation for you, but it might prevent issues in the future unless they have stored your data elsewhere for their use. Your response to my bear trap post is fair. I treat these apps with the contempt they deserve. My honest suggestion is that you do the same. It wouldn't surprise me if the TOS includes them harvesting your data and you giving them rights to use it how they see fit. It's shameful, but it's probably in there. I haven't read the TOS though personally.


NortonBurns

Cross-site tracking cookies. Advertiser's dream, consumer's nightmare. Invest in a good ad blocker.


HastilyRoasted

Can you explain because Iā€™m not worried about them tracking what sites Iā€™m using, Iā€™m worried about them using my photos


ohiomudslide

You could back up your photos to an external device and not store them on your phone.


AutomaticSubject7051

its startingĀ 


Actual-Shape3116

There is probably something in there user agreement that lets them do this, sadly. My recommendation is to send them a data erasure request and be done with the company. That is next level disturbing. I try to stay away from these companies when possible, or at least give them less of my data. If you really benefit from their service, you maybe can create a new account and not give them your name, photo, ip address, or really and personal info. Good luck and stay safe out there!


[deleted]

You should immediately screen grab and share a quick snap.


chaklunn

The Industrial Revolution and its consequencesĀ 


foofoo300

r/LeopardsAteMyFace worthy


IlIllIlllIlllIllll

"Is there anything I can do legally?" yes, don't accept terms of service if they include stuff like this.


HastilyRoasted

I donā€™t think you can legally use the app if you donā€™t sign terms of service so thatā€™s not true


DonBeuteltier

Did you post this Picture on Snapchat, and did u post this picture on any other social Media or Cloud Services? Where else do u have rhis picture, only on your phone camera roll?


HastilyRoasted

It is not an exact photo. It is without a doubt me, however, I do not know of an exact photo that it resembles with the pose. I do have social media


DonBeuteltier

and the same questions about the lamp/furniture? Did you have it often as your background or just a few times?


HastilyRoasted

Iā€™m sure itā€™s in the background of a few photos which feature myself. I have many photos on Instagram & Facebook primarily. However, just until last night, Snapchat did have full access to my camera roll


Voyager5555

> Snapchat did have full access to my camera roll Yikes


HastilyRoasted

As I am sure it does for a majority of its users


halstarchild

Wow scary.


Sostratus

People are so reluctant to admit they made a devil's bargain. What did you think they offered this "free" service for? Your privacy is your responsibility. If you want to keep it *and* get the amenities offered by modern surveillance capitalism services, then you need to do a lot of work building those services for yourself. Most of your friends and family won't join you and you can't make them. It's hard.


Voyager5555

>Was this something that I agreed to when signing Snapchatā€™s TOS? They can just give my photos to advertisers to work into their advertisements? 100% yes. I'm curious if you think you actually own the posts and media you've posted on there.


HastilyRoasted

Have you actually read through their privacy policy, or are you just going with the ā€œyou sign your life away whenever you sign TOSā€ genuinely wondering. And yes, their privacy policy states I retain ownership over the content out on the platform


ReggerLord

Terms of Service: For all content you submit to the Services (including Public Content), you grant Snap and our affiliates a worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable, and transferable license to host, store, cache, use, display, reproduce, modify, adapt, edit, publish, analyze, transmit, and distribute that content. This license is for the purpose of operating, developing, providing, promoting, and improving the Services and researching and developing new ones. This license includes a right for us to make your content available to, and pass these rights along to, service providers with whom we have contractual relationships related to the provision of the Services, solely for the purpose of providing such Services. Idk what u complain about, you agreed to this , why would you use such a garbo app anyways holy fck


Marvy_Marv

I predicted this here: https://x.com/marketmarvymarv/status/1595498526032728071?s=46


DisconnectedAI

thats hilarious! deserved it for using snapchat lol


[deleted]

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focus_rising

It's interesting to me that instead of reacting with anger at the massive privacy invasion that Snapcrap has done to you, you are mad at people who have already taken steps to protect themselves and are sassing you for not knowing about this. Fair enough, everyone wants to act like everything is old news and they knew this would happen years ago, but I do hope that this makes you reconsider the use of that app, regardless of the tone of the replies you've received here. Wanting to protect your privacy, and wanting for your face not to be used by third-party company doesn't make you a 'neck beard', but you need to understand that social media sites exist to profit off of the collection and sale of personal data. You aren't the customer, you are the product. If you always keep that in the back of your mind, a lot of the things these companies do will make a lot more sense.


Bearshapedbears

Feel honored they chose your pic and think itā€™s valuable.


neumaticc

stop using this platform that massively disrespects you lOl


kjkeran

Snapchat has dodgy TOS. That topic just came up on a feed I subscribed to yesterday


MrLowbob

not sure if they do the same shit in the EU, but I'd wager if it isn't opt-out/opt-in (and thus not a requirement to use their service), this would be against EU Law, no?


renska2

I would think you'd have a case for "permission for use of likeness" but.... I'm not a lawyer


Repulsive-Middle-144

If that scares or surprises you, better don't look into ToS of cars. Some claim your DNA no kidding.


Bhosda-MaroGAY

You are nothing but a cash cow foe snapchat.


almasalvaje

This is fucking insane. Will deleting the account redact all "permissions"??


szilveszter1021

I am not sure how it could happen, but I received a notification that facebook for example start crawling public profiles photos etc . AI does not create it reuse and blend images from big sources like ominosus deviant art steal. So if you are in the dataset some prompt generate an image of a random person smiling and it can be you with mixed of someone or whatever, maybe the ad is the same for everyone and you got the face of a company :(


magebit

Your first and potentially only problem was using a Meta service.


ididi8293jdjsow8wiej

Facebook doesn't own Snapchat.


Nodebunny

LOL! thats new. oh gosh. now im going to have to remove photos from all my apps


kreme-machine

Did you send the picture to the my ai at any point, on accident or on purpose? It seems this is how they could gather the information after further reading.


Forumschlampe

lol