Snapchat has passed 'about a dozen' unopened messages to law enforcement under search warrant

Think those unopened self-destructing Snaps disappear forever unseen, too? Guess again. After detailing the timeline for how and when user messages are deleted in the spring, Snapchat says that it has given law enforcement "about a dozen" unopened Snaps at the request of law enforcement search warrants since May 2013. In a blog post, trust and safety head Micah Schaffer says that the messages are only manually retrieved under these circumstances in compliance with the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA)and that only he and the CTO Bobby Murphy have the ability to do so in the 30-day window that the messages remain on the servers. Schaffer went on to say that although the timeline for deleting Stories varies from that of Snaps, Stories fall under the same disclosure process. Stories and the messages they contain can be "viewed repeatedly" for up to 24 hours before they're automatically deleted. So those selfies meant for two-second viewing aren't immune from a prying eye? Bummer.

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/14/snapchat-search-warrants?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000589
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