Snapchat's new Snap Map feature raises privacy concerns

A new update to the photo-sharing app Snapchat that allows certain users to track down your exact location is raising privacy concerns for parents and child safety advocates.

With the new feature, you can choose to share your location with all your friends, a few friends you select, or you can disappear from the map at any time by going into "Ghost Mode".

But experts have expressed concerns about the privacy implications of such a feature.

"Think about where you're sharing your location. Location services such as Snap Maps can lead people to your house," Childnet International, a children's internet safety advocacy group, said in a blog post.

Snapchat said that location sharing is off by default in "ghost mode" and that it is impossible to share your location with someone who is not your friend.

"We want to make sure that all 'Snapchatters', parents and educators have accurate information about how the snap map works," a Snapchat spokesperson told ABC News.

Experts advise users to only share their location with people they know in person, and never with strangers.

"It is very easy to accidentally share everything that you've got with more people than you need too, and that's the scariest portion," cyber security expert Charles Tendell was quoted as saying.

--IANS

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