Snapchat has announced a new feature called Snap Map, that tracks your location and shares it with friends.
“We’ve built a whole new way to explore the world! See what’s happening, find your friends, and get inspired to go on an adventure,” the Snap Chat team said on its blog. How it works, is that Snap Map will record your location whenever you open the app, and will place your avatar or profile picture in the place where you're recording.”
Bloomberg Technology reported that Snap (The listed name for Snapchat on the NYSE) bought Zenly for $250 million to $300 million in cash and stock in order to make the feature possible but Zenly will continue to operate autonomously. Zenly is a French startup that makes social maps so people can see where their friends are hanging out. Like Snap Map, Zenly enables users to see where their friends are. Then they can message each other and make plans to connect in real life.
With questions around safety and privacy, Snapchat was quick to detail other features in this regard. “ As soon as users enter "Ghost Mode" in the app, the company will stop collecting precise location data. Instead, Snapchat will collect the usual amount of data to power other experiences in the app, such as filters. Without that mode enabled, snaps will be thumbnailed on the map itself. This means that people can stop tracking you but you can still track others.
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