So this theory was started by a tweet that the the rapper B.o.b tweeted a few months back, which caused a outbreak for conspiracy theorists. Please note that this might not be true, so you all don't have to freak out and stop using Snapchat.
So the tweet made was literally out of nowhere, but if you think about it, the rapper must have been thinking or researching about this a lot before finally coming to this realisation.
So, as you can tell this tweet will creep out a lot of people, and make them rethink what they are doing on Snapchat, but what is this theory even about?
So, the theory is basically that Snapchat is a app made by the government so that they could build a facial recognition database" on everyone around the world. The theory is that the filters, when they scan your face for applying the filter, is actually the government scanning your face so they could have your identity.
It does sound really weird, but think about it. It could be just like having your DNA with the government, so when they need something or are looking for someone, they will just need to check all the files and they will be able to find it.
Below I have copied and pasted some information about this, from a website.
According to the FBI itself, the program -- officially known as the Next Generation Identification system -- would be charged with facial mapping mug shots currently in their system "to see if [they could] find bad guys by matching pictures with mug shots." Unless you're a criminal, that's a tough plan to argue with, except that it wasn't the whole truth. Gasp!
An investigation by the Electronic Frontier Foundation revealed that the database would actually not just include criminals, but law-abiding citizens with no criminal history whatsoever as well. People who hold jobs of any kind that require them to submit a photo as part of a background check would end up in the database too.
Of course, there is absolutely zero evidence connecting Snapchat with the FBI in any way, shape, or form, nor any to suggest that Snapchat has reason to help build out the Next Generation Identification system, because surely, Snapchat's $150 million acquisition of facial-recognition technology has nothing to do with the government. Per Snapchat's own Terms of Service, the company makes it very clear that they delete the photos and videos you send after it's viewed by the other party. They're not sharing it with any third parties or logging it into some secret database, or whatever.
Another commenter in that same Reddit thread shared a link to a NYTimes video featuring William Binney, the former US Intelligence official who blew the whistle on the NSA's secret data collection methods that were put in place following 9/11. In it, Binney discusses the program he outed, the Stellar Wind project, which enabled the NSA to collect vast amounts of metadata about people's email and Internet habits. Stellar Wind was officially halted in 2011, but the point is, the government could very well be slyly collecting maps of our faces under the aegis of national security.
So what does Snapchat have to say about all of this? I reached out to the company for comment, and they simply directed me to the section of their privacy center that pretty much exists solely to debunk this entire ridiculous notion: "While we are able to recognize faces in general, we don't store data that would allow us to recognize a specific face."
So what did you all think? Like it? Have a opinion? All comments are welcome below