Police Warning Parents About New Snapchat Feature

FRAMINGHAM, MA—Lots of teens use Snapchat, and police departments statewide want parents to make sure they know this information about it.

In the latest Snapchat update, it announced a new feature called "Snap Map," which allows users to share their location. That location can be viewed on a map with friends. Users can also choose to stay off the grid by hitting "Ghost Mode."

"As you can see from the image attached, that you can see that I am currently at State Police General Headquarters in Framingham," writes State Trooper Dustin Fitch.

"Why would you care about this?" he asks. "It should cause some concern for those of you who have children using Snapchat. I'd recommend talking to your children about the concerns with sharing their location with strangers. They can choose to share only with friends or with no one at all."

The settings on Snapchat can be adjusted by going to the camera screen, pinching it with two fingers, which loads the map. Click on the icon in the top right and that opens the option for Ghost Mode or other.

"The ability to track users to their exact locations is a serious concern for us," Concord Police Chief Joseph O'Connor said. "Snapchat is especially popular with younger people, so it’s important for parents to be aware that it has this capability and we highly recommend that they deactivate the map function on their children’s phones."

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Photo via Massachusetts State Police