– It’s a bit disgusting if someone you don’t like can follow what you’re doing, says media student Victoria Havn. She comments on Snapchat’s new feature “Ghost Trails”, which allows you to track your friends’ movements over the past 24 hours. Users who buy this see where you are every time you are active in the app. And you don’t get any notification of who buys it. – I thought it was creepy, says Kaspara Sørum. – Can be problematic Snapchat has long had the Snap Map function. There you can see where your friends are when they have been inside the app. The new thing now is that you can bring up people’s itinerary, which is shown in the form of yellow lines on the map. “Ghost trails” allow others to know where you work, where you live, and which route you use to get there. – I initially think that this could be problematic, says legal adviser at the Norwegian Data Protection Authority, Trine Smedbold. news had a reporter track a friend’s movements throughout a day. – Share with those you trust on “Ghost trails” only works if you have already chosen to be visible on the Snap Map. Smedbold in the Norwegian Data Protection Authority believes that it is time to do an additional review of the friend list. – The new function monitors you and your movements to a greater extent. From a privacy standpoint, this is quite invasive. She encourages parents to sit down with children and young people now that the map has become so detailed. – I would advise anyone who wants to use the function to only share the location with people you trust, says Smedbold. – Has questionable aspects Head of Department for Information Systems at the University of Agder, Carl Erik Moe, believes that the new function has a number of questionable aspects. – We hardly need to know where others are for 24 hours. Moe believes the biggest fear in connection with the new function is how young people will be influenced to use it. Social pressure is part of it. – The app plays on the social need to be involved in things. For example, FOMO. If others don’t get information about you, you may not be part of the gang anymore. Carl Erik Moe, head of the Department of Information Systems at UiA, is not positive about Snapchat’s new sharing service. Photo: Per-Kåre Sandbakk / news Moe believes privacy is also at stake. – You should know who you share information with. So know who you have on your list. Sharing your location on Snap Map is very popular among young people. – No reason to panic Noroff professor of digital investigation Emlyn Butterfield, found the new functions exciting and thinks there is no reason to panic. – People panic because they suddenly feel that people are tracking them and following where they have been. He still believes that the new function means that we have to think more about how we use Snapchat. Especially when it comes to the youngest users, to ensure that they are safe. – They are not always aware of the risk, he says. Features in Snapchat+ Ghost tracks on the map, where you can track your friends’ movements in the last 24 hours. The ability to mark someone as a “best friend”. Create what is called a solar system where you rank your friends. Are you a person’s best friend, or third best friend. The possibility to see if someone has seen your story several times. Snapchat has responded to the criticism in an email. There they write that location sharing on Snap Map is automatically set to “off”. To share your location, you must actively change the settings. Then it will only be visible to friends in your friends list. Ghost tracks do not share new location information that the user does not choose to share with friends on the map.
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Students think Snapchat’s new ghost trail function is “creepy” – news Sørlandet – Local news, TV and radio
