With the increasing number of leaks and misuses of personal data in the news, shouldn’t we be seeing more public pushback? Services being boycotted? Or services being outright taken down?
I recently wrote about the massive leak suffered by Snapchat users, it made me wonder why we don’t see a huge amount of public outcry when a story like this hits the news.
Mark James, ESET security specialist, explains how security takes a back seat when using Snapchat and similar services:
“The case here is purely the need for the service overriding the regard for safety… friends, partners, potential partners and “mates” all use the service therefore to be in the current workspace you need to be involved.
“The perception of privacy is not near enough to the top of the list for it to come into question… its installed, once that’s done it’s a forgotten concept and the app then becomes a part of your daily life.”
Snapchat’s Future
Will companies like Snapchat be irreparably damaged by this kind of “negative” publicity?
“Not at all, I don’t think it will have any impact at all… much the same as we still buy petrol after personally remembering the uproar when fuel was going to cost £2 a gallon and everyone said “we just won’t buy it””, says Mark.
Not only will it not have an impact Mark thinks that they will “flourish because of it” saying that it’s “a great piece of global advertising for them.”
There were also questions raised that it could affect consumer willingness to trust other websites or tech companies.
Mark explains that “on a daily basis we hear of another credit card breach, will this stop us using our credit cards? Nope.” Adding that he doesn’t think that “this will impact people’s willingness to be using the latest fad in social apps designed specifically to enable the younger generation to communicate faster and through bigger circles.”
Does a breach like Snapchat has suffered ever make you nervous about using apps of that nature? How about credit card breaches and using your card?