Ah, Snapchat.
One of our absolute favourite apps, the fun of Snapchat lies in the fact that any photo you send will be deleted after a maximum of ten seconds.
Which means that, yes, you can pull some seriously grotesque faces and send them to your pals without the fear of them popping up on Facebook.
Well, that was the initial plan, anyway.
Nowadays, however, plenty of people have figured out that it’s really easy to screenshot your BFF’s silliest selfies and store the image online forever.
An act which Culture Minister Ed verify has now confirmed is a punishable offence.
Yup, taking a screenshot of your mate’s snapchat is technically a crime.
Eep!
However there is a VERY good reason for it.
Ed Vaizey explained: “Under UK copyright law, it would be unlawful for a Snapchat user to copy an image and make it available to the public without the consent of the image owner.
“The image owner would be able to sue anyone who does this for copyright infringement.”
He continued: “Snapchat photos are automatically deleted after 10 seconds.
“The Snapchat Privacy Policy states that if Snapchat is able to detect that a recipient has taken a screenshot of an image, they will try to inform the original poster.
“However, Snapchat advises users to avoid sending messages which they would not want to be saved or shared.”
Addressing the topic of revenge porn, he added: “The disclosure of private sexual photographs or films without the consent of an individual who appears in them and with intent to cause that individual distress is an offence under Section 33 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015.
“Those convicted could face a maximum sentence of two years in prison.”
Are you surprised to hear that taking screenshots of Snapchat photos is a crime?
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