Snapchat was the subject of a lot of criticism this month as a result of a hole in its security that allowed 4.6 million of its users to have their usernames and phone numbers catalogued and published to an online database without their permission.
The company has responded in numerous ways since that time, it even went as far as to hire a lobbyist to ensure that there were no long-term ramifications to the brand following this latest controversy. However, the one thing Snapchat did not do was apologize, until now.
In a blog post published on Thursday, Snapchat said it was "sorry for any problems this issue may have caused." This marks the first official apology from the company since the Find Friends function was exploited by hackers. This exploit was brought to the attention of the company a few days prior, Snapchat admitted to a vulnerability that would "allow possible attacks by which one could compile a database of Snapchat usernames and phone numbers."
Find Friends Improvements
This morning we released a Snapchat update for Android and iOS that improves Find Friends functionality and allows Snapchatters to opt-out of linking their phone number with their username. This option is available in Settings > Mobile #.
This update also requires new Snapchatters to verify their phone number before using the Find Friends service.
Our team continues to make improvements to the Snapchat service to prevent future attempts to abuse our API. We are sorry for any problems this issue may have caused you and we really appreciate your patience and support.
Love,
Team Snapchat
According to CNET, Snapchat's critics have been urging the company to apologize to its users following the vulnerability exploit that led millions of user's information to be compromised.
Tell us what you think of Snapchat's latest statement on this situation. Is the apology too little too late or enough for you to put this incident behind you and continue sending disappearing pictures and videos to your friends and family? Comment and share your thoughts with us below.
