Snapchat's location-sharing feature puts users at risk from predators and fake accounts. Massachusetts State Trooper Dustin Fitch and security expert Robert Siciliano explain the dangers and recommend enabling Ghost Mode to turn off location tracking.
It's been a household rule since everyone was a kid: don't talk to strangers.
A rule social media users break every day, but Massachusetts State Trooper Dustin Fitch says the danger is more serious with Snapchat's location sharing tool.
Now with this update, anybody who's friends with that person, per se, can see their exact location.
It may seem harmless, but for many kids, followers come a dime a dozen on social media, and they may not know who is keeping an eye on them.
They could have, you know, 12-year-old Jamie username on Snapchat who's actually 43-year-old Ed, and they have no idea.
Internet security expert Robert Siciliano says predators could swarm the web searching your child's location, easily pointed out by the maps on Snapchat even showing your exact home.
Uh, it scares me. Like, I feel like that— I feel like people can see where I am, and it's like really creepy. They can see where you are and they come like to your house and stuff, stalking parents.
Probably trust their kid, but they shouldn't trust anybody else. And it's everybody else that you need to worry about that has access to your child.
And there is a way of stopping that access. All you have to do is log on to Snapchat, go into the settings, and turn on ghost mode. That will remove your location. Here in Revere, I'm Glenn Marshall, NBC Boston.
