Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel encourages Mark Zuckerberg to ‘copy our data protection practices also’
Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel has poked fun at Mark Zuckerberg's habit of stealing his company's ideas.
From face filters to Stories and an in-app camera, it seems there's nothing Facebook has not copied - almost exactly - from Snapchat.
Now, Spiegel has encouraged Zuckerberg to 'copy our data protection practices also' in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
In an interview this week, Spiegel also insisted that plagiarising Snapchat's ideas would not give Facebook an edge in the ongoing war between the two companies.
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Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel has poked fun at Mark Zuckerberg's habit of stealing his company's ideas. He has encouraged Zuckerberg to 'copy our data protection practices also' in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal
'Snapchat is not just a bunch of features, it has an underlying philosophy that really runs counter to traditional social media,' Spiegel told an audience Tuesday at Recode's annual Code Conference in Ranchos Palos Verdes, California.
'I think that's why traditional social media feels threatened. Because fundamentally people realise that competing with their friends for 'Likes' and attention is kind of unpleasant and really not that great.'
Interviewer Kara Swisher asked Spiegel what he thought about Facebook copying some of Snapchat's key features, such as 24-hour Stories and virtual reality lenses.
He responded: 'We would really appreciate it if they copied our data protection practices also', adding that Facebook's copycatting 'bothers my wife more than it bothers me.'
The Snapchat CEO added: 'If you can create something that is so beautiful and simple that the only thing other people can do is copy it exactly, that is the most fantastic feeling.
'It is the most fantastic thing in the entire world.'
Spiegel suggested Facebook did not adequately overhaul its privacy protections following its recent data scandal in which the information of millions of users was leaked to the political consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica.
Spiegel made the comments during a talk at Recode's annual Code Conference in Ranchos Palos Verdes, California
WHAT IS THE CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA SCANDAL? Communications firms Cambridge Analytica has offices in London, New York, Washington, as well as Brazil and Malaysia. The company boasts it can 'find your voters and move them to action' through data-driven campaigns and a team that includes data scientists and behavioural psychologists. 'Within the United States alone, we have played a pivotal role in winning presidential races as well as congressional and state elections,' with data on more than 230 million American voters, Cambridge Analytica claims on its website. The company profited from a feature that meant apps could ask for permission to access your own data as well as the data of all your Facebook friends. The data firm suspended its chief executive, Alexander Nix (pictured), after recordings emerged of him making a series of controversial claims, including boasts that Cambridge Analytica had a pivotal role in the election of Donald Trump This meant the company was able to mine the information of 87 million Facebook users even though just 270,000 people gave them permission to do so. This was designed to help them create software that can predict and influence voters' choices at the ballot box. The data firm suspended its chief executive, Alexander Nix, after recordings emerged of him making a series of controversial claims, including boasts that Cambridge Analytica had a pivotal role in the election of Donald Trump. This information is said to have been used to help the Brexit campaign in the UK.
The company profited from a now-defunct feature that meant apps could ask for permission to access your own data as well as the data of all your Facebook friends.
This meant the company was able to mine the information of 87 million Facebook users even though just 270,000 people gave them permission to do so.
Following the scandal Facebook made its privacy settings more accessible and provided clearer explanations about how its data tools are used.
It also added a new bulk app removal tool that allowed people to cleanse their profiles of unwanted third parties spying on their data.
But according to Spiegel, Facebook did not do enough.
'Fundamentally, I think the changes have to go beyond window dressing to real changes to the ways that these platforms work,' the Snapchat founder said Tuesday.
Snapchat's own data policy is far more open.
'At Snap, we make your privacy a priority. We know your trust is earned every time you use Snapchat, or any of our other products — that’s why we treat your information differently than most other tech companies,' the company says.
'We don’t stockpile your private messages and we don’t publicly showcase a timeline of everything you’ve ever posted. Snapchat’s designed so that people can only see the things you want to share, for as long as you want to share them.
'We believe this makes Snapchat feel less like a permanent record and more like a conversation with friends.'
Facebook has built a reputation for stealing Snapchat's most popular features.
HOW HAS FACEBOOK COPIED SNAPCHAT OVER THE YEARS? March 2016 - Filters One of the first signs Facebook was copying Snapchat was in March 2016 when it bought MSQRD, an app that overlays silly live filters to your selfies. The app lets users apply filters to their faces - similar to Snapchat 'Lens' filters. One of the first signs Facebook was copying Snapchat was in March 2016 when it bought MSQRD, an app that overlays silly live filters to your selfies. The app lets users apply filters to their faces (pictured right) - similar to Snapchat 'Lens' filters (pictured left) April 2016 - QR codes In April of last year, Facebook added QR codes to profiles in Messenger. Snapchat uses QR codes to allow people to add other users without having to search. December 2016 - Location-based filters and in-app camera Facebook introduced custom location-based camera filters that overlay pictures and videos – similar to Snapchat's 'geo-filters'. Users build 'frames' on any design platform, submit them to Facebook and then friends nearby will have access to the creations. In the same month, a 'Messenger Camera' was designed to make it quicker to capture and share photos and videos without having to dip out of a conversations - a feature that already existed on Snapchat. In December, Facebook introduced custom location-based camera filters (pictured right) that overlay pictures and videos – similar to Snapchat's 'geo-filters' (pictured left) March 2017 - Stories In March, Facebook introduced Facebook Stories along with two other new Snapchat-like features - Facebook Camera and Direct. Facebook Stories highlights decorative content in a horizontal layout over News Feed that disappears in 24 hours - just like Snapchat Stories. Facebook Stories (pictured right) highlights decorative content in a horizontal layout over News Feed that disappears in 24 hours - just like Snapchat Stories (pictured left) The section in the app called 'Direct' appears to be very similar to Snapchat's feed for one-to-one group messaging. The update encourages users to use Facebook's camera feature and also lets them put friends' stories at the top of their News Feed. In the same month it also introduced 'Messenger Day', which lets user share photos and videos with illustrated filters and stickers that vanish in 24 hours - just like Snapchat Stories. November 2017 - Streaks In November, Facebook copied Snapchat by testing a new feature that encourages friends to send messages back and forth for consecutive days. Like 'Snapstreaks' on Snapchat, Facebook Messenger 'Streaks' have emoji next to the name of anyone who users are regularly messaging. According to Facebook, this will encourage users to 'keep your streak going'. In March, Facebook introduced 'Messenger Day', which lets user share photos and videos with illustrated filters and stickers that vanish in 24 hours - just like Snapchat Stories January 2018 - Screenshots In January, Instagram, the Facebook-owned app, began testing a feature that lets your followers know if you've taken a sneaky screenshot of their Story. The Snapchat-inspired feature is expected to launch on the picture-sharing platform soon and is currently being trialled in Japan. May 2018 - Bitmoji As with Filters, Snaps, and Stories, Facebook revealed it is duplicating the Bitmoji feature used on Snapchat. Within the code of Facebook's Android app, developers have found an unreleased functionality that lets users 'build personalized, illustrated versions of themselves for use as stickers in Messenger and comments.'
Earlier this month the company revealed it is duplicating the Bitmoji feature used on Snapchat - adding to its copied versions of Snapchat's Filters, Snaps, and Stories.
According to Spiegel, Facebook - which he refused to explicitly name during the interview - cannot win its battle with Snapchat by taking his company's ideas.
He said that Facebook's values are fundamentally different to Snapchat's, meaning the photo-sharing app will always have an edge.
'At Snapchat it's all about building deeper relationships with the people that you're close to,' he said.
At Facebook, 'they are having a really hard time changing the DNA of their company.
The 27-year-old encouraged Mark Zuckerberg to 'copy our data protection practices also' as he revealed he's flattered Facebook has pinched some of Snapchat's features
'And the DNA of their company is all about having people compete with each other online for attention.
Snap 'has a mission that runs counter to traditional social media. Our values are hard to copy.'
The company has always had a different approach to privacy than most social media platforms.
It was founded on the principle that all snaps and later chats between users were deleted from its servers immediately after they were sent.
Snapchat does not collect data about its users' interests, or where they spend time outside of the app.
Spiegel continued: 'It's important to point out that there wasn't any Russian manipulation of Snapchat.
'That there are alternatives and that the way you treat user privacy is really important.
'And for us, that goes back to when we were in my dorm room... We cared about data retention.
'It's taken seven years for people in the technology industry to look at what we've done, getting rid of personal information rather than storing it, hoarding it forever, and saying: "Hey, that actually makes sense".'