Privacy runs in our DNA at Snap. One of the defining features of Snapchat from day one has been our focus on helping people strengthen their friendships through private communication and conversation. 

As we grow and evolve, our platform continues to ground itself in two basic but essential values: privacy and safety. Having clear privacy principles is essential to keeping Snapchatters safe and secure, and strong safety practices help protect Snapchatter privacy. So, every new feature we develop goes through an intensive privacy and safety review, and if a new feature doesn’t pass the test, we don’t move forward.

That’s why, in honour of Data Privacy Day, we recently launched our Privacy and Safety Hub – values.snap.com – a new one-stop-shop housing all our privacy and safety materials and policies under one roof. People can now visit this hub and find short-form content educating them on Snap’s unique approach to privacy and safety in a way that’s easy to digest. Previously, our privacy and safety centres were separate, and we hope by streamlining the information and creating a central place, more people will explore our policies, resources and tools and better understand what Snap is doing to protect people on our platform and what they can do to protect themselves.

We want Snapchatters to have control over the things they share, and to make this easier, we’re refreshing our Settings page, to make relevant settings even easier to find and understand. Snapchat is an app that empowers people to express themselves, live in the moment, learn about the world, and have fun together, which is why we’re also launching a range of interactive tools, like a privacy-themed themed Bitmoji, a sticker pack in partnership with International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), and a Lens co-created with Future Privacy Forum (FPF), a leading privacy organisation, which includes a swipe-up link to resources with best practices to protect your privacy online, such as a student privacy communications toolkit. Lastly, Snapchatters can watch an episode of the Safety Snapshot, our privacy-focused channel on our Stories page, which features content from media partners and creators. The episode provides tips about creating unique account credentials and how to set up two-factor authentication.  

This Data Privacy Day, and every day, Snap remains committed to protecting our communities’ privacy and safety. We will continue holding ourselves to the highest standards of privacy and safety practices while maintaining a fun, engaging and safe environment for Snapchatters around the world.