Does Snapchat have parental controls?

Snapchat is one of the most popular social media platforms among teenagers. It favors disappearing content and real-time interaction, meaning there’s less pressure to create a persona and more focus on connecting and sharing with real friends.

That’s the value of Snapchat, but using the app still comes with risks. Not just in terms of access — who can view what, who can message whom — but also in the scope of data collected by the platform and subtle behavior manipulations it employs for engagement.

Snapchat has introduced new default settings for teens that help to keep their profiles private and prevent them from seeing inappropriate material. We explain how they work, what other parental controls you can use, and how to approach a parent-child conversation about minimizing negative impacts together.

• What data does Snapchat collect?
• Teen Accounts on Snapchat
• Snapchat’s Family Center
• Red flags to watch out for
• Talk to your child like they know social media better than you
• How to delete Snapchat or opt out
• Collaboration is your strongest tool as a parent

What data does Snapchat collect?

Snapchat calls transparency a “core value,” asserting that “a personalized experience should not come at the expense of your privacy.” But the platform doesn’t make it easy to see the whole picture of what it observes and learns from users.

While Snapchat’s privacy policy(new window) lists the types of data it collects, like contact information, usage patterns, and location, it stops short of explaining how it uses those data points to shape your child’s experience. You will find general statements about personalized content, advertising, and product improvement, but you won’t see specifics about features like Snapstreaks, AI chat logging, or passive location tracking.

To understand what Snapchat really knows — and how it nudges behavior — you have to read scattered help center pages and product-specific disclosures that aren’t linked to from the main policy.

Here’s a clearer look at what Snapchat tracks and why it matters.

• Location: Snapchat tracks location when your child opens the app, but it also passively updates location information in the background if they use Snap Map. This builds a pattern of their movements, even if they’re not actively posting or sharing. Serious vulnerabilities(new window) come with this type of profiling, which has given rise to a data market(new window) worth billions.
• Metadata: Snaps may disappear, but metadata doesn’t. Snapchat logs timestamps, recipients, and frequency of interactions to fuel things like Snapstreak, a feature that rewards the daily exchange of Snaps with a friend and encourages users to keep the streak going at all costs. That can lead to compulsive use, and there are ongoing concerns about effects on brain development(new window) and emotional regulation(new window).
• Contacts: If your child gives Snapchat permission to access contacts, it uploads the list to map their social connections — even if those contacts aren’t on the platform. This allows deeper profiling of your child, raises ethical concerns about sharing other people’s personal information without consent, and can contribute to social feedback loops that aren’t always healthy.
• Search terms and Discover views: Every search and every video viewed in the Discover tab helps train Snapchat’s algorithm on what holds attention — including influencer content and ads targeting body image or social status, which can strongly influence(new window) teens (even when they’re not actively seeking it(new window)).
• Interaction data with My AI and ads: Conversations with Snapchat’s AI assistant are saved and analyzed to improve responses and personalize content and advertising. That means every question, joke, or emotionally vulnerable moment your child shares with My AI may feed into a profile that shapes what they see in the app (or foster a false sense of intimacy with the bot that can carry real emotional consequences(new window)). And if location sharing is on, even their physical movements can influence these interactions. Snapchat doesn’t explain the full scope of how this data is used across systems or whether it’s stored indefinitely.

Teen Accounts on Snapchat

Snapchat prioritizes engagement, not privacy. But it also introduced protections for teens between 13 and 17(new window). The minimum age for having Snapchat account is 13 and anyone under 15 automatically has the following privacy protections turned on by default.

Private accounts

By default, Snapchat sets teens’ accounts to private, meaning their friend list is hidden from others on the platform and they can only communicate with mutually-accepted friends (your child has accepted them as a friend and they have accepted your child as a friend). Similarly, teens can only tag friends in Snaps, Stories, or Spotlight videos.

Location sharing is turned off

Snapchat turns location sharing off for everyone by default. Even if you turn location sharing on, you can only share share it with friends (there is no option to share your location with people on Snapchat that aren’t your friends).

Public profiles

Teens under the age of 16 cannot make their profiles public. Once a child turns 16, they can turn on Public Profiles, which allows them to share a Story with the public or submit a video to Spotlight. However, they’ll be able to choose which videos become public and who can see them. Videos and Stories shared publicly by older teens can only be seen by friends, followers, or people that have a friend in common.

Moderation

Snapchat places higher standards on its moderation and uses human moderators to help ensure that teen accounts aren’t shown inappropriate content, including advertising.

Learn more about Snapchat’s Teen Accounts(new window)

Snapchat’s Family Center

Snapchat’s built-in Family Center doesn’t let parents read messages, but you can see who your child is friends with, who they’ve messaged recently, and how much time they spend on the app. Let your child know you’re not trying to spy — you’re trying to stay connected and help them develop healthy digital habits. Family Center works best as a shared tool out in the open, because you and your child both have to opt in.

You can also use the Family Center to take the following actions:

• Turn off Snapchat’s AI chatbot and prevent it from responding to your teen
• Report concerning accounts (for example, accounts that chatted with your child) directly to Snapchat’s safety team
• Send a request to your child asking them to share their current location

To turn on the Family Center and use its parental controls on your teen’s account, you must:

• Download and sign up for Snapchat.
• Add your teen as a friend (and they must add you).
• Go to Profile Page → Settings (gear icon) → Family Center.
• Send an invite to your teen to participate in the Family Center. Your teen must accept.
• Once your teen accepts, you can begin using Family Center’s parental controls.

Learn more about Snapchat’s Family Center(new window)

Red flags to watch out for

Even with these safety settings in place, Snapchat’s design can still pull kids into patterns of unhealthy use. These aren’t necessarily signs of danger, but they might indicate that the app is shaping their behavior in ways you should pay attention to. Watch for these habits, and use them as openings to talk to your kid:

• Compulsive Snapstreak maintenance
  Streaks may seem like harmless fun, but the pressure to keep them going can build into an obligation (especially with the app deploying a sand-timer emoji to warn users when a streak is about to expire).
• Pressure to respond immediately to friends
  Because messages disappear, there’s a built-in fear of missing out — or disappointing someone — by not replying fast enough. This can create social anxiety, where your child feels “on call.” Over time, that pressure can disrupt sleep, increase stress, and make it harder to unplug.
• Interactions with users not in real-life social circle
  Snapchat makes it easy to connect with new people through Quick Add, group chats, or public Stories. If your child is messaging strangers, it’s worth asking why. It could be innocent curiosity, or it could point to loneliness, social comparison, or vulnerability to manipulation.
• Use of My AI for personal questions or emotional support
  Snapchat’s AI assistant is always available, always affirming, and never judgmental. That can be comforting, but when kids turn to AI for real connection, they may be outsourcing emotional needs to a system that’s designed to learn from them, not support them.
• Discover tab promoting unrealistic body, beauty, or wealth standards
  The Discover tab is tuned to keep attention, which means influencers, luxury lifestyles, and appearance-based content. Even if your child isn’t seeking out this content, the algorithm observes and serves whatever content holds their gaze.

Talk to your child like they know social media better than you

Snapchat’s design urges users to engage more, from Snapstreaks and time-based notifications to trophies and “friend rankings.” But helping kids recognize these features as the nudges they are is a big part of empowering them to take control.

In fact, they may already recognize what’s going on. Teens are incredibly tech savvy. That goes for social media mechanics and concerns about how it affects them. They could already be aware of the risks.

It’s also worth mentioning that, after much handwringing in response to social media’s grip on young people, more nuanced assessments(new window) are attempting to parse the upsides(new window). To get at what that 13-17 demographic finds of genuine value.

Parents need to personalize that effort. Your goal shouldn’t be to control through surveillance, because teens will always find workarounds. By treating them as partners in this conversation, you’ll build trust and help them develop healthy, lasting habits.

• Start with curiosity
  Ask your child for a tour, and frame it as mutual learning: Can you walk me through how you use Snap Map or My AI? I want to see and understand things from your point of view.
• Explain the nudge
  Define dark patterns in plain language and challenge them to spot the nudge: The app uses things like Snapstreak and timer emojis to get you to open it more. It’s not about you; it’s about engagement.
• Validate their autonomy and concerns
  Share your concerns without shaming and let them share theirs, acknowledging what they may already know: What’s something you like about Snapchat, and what’s something that feels weird or pushy? It’s cool that you can be yourself here, but let’s make sure you’re really safe to do that.
• Co-create rules and shared expectations
  Offer options instead of demands and refine them together, with an agreement to revisit things.

How to delete Snapchat or opt out

The reality is that, like all social media, Snapchat rewards habits that benefit the platform, not the user. For families who want to reset, opt out, or move on:

Delete your Snapchat account

1. Log in(new window) and follow the prompts to Delete My Account (it will be deactivated for 30 days, then permanently deleted if no one logs back in).
2. Note that even after deletion, Snapchat may retain some data. Find details in the privacy policy, Snap’s pages on privacy FAQs(new window), and the US State Privacy Notice(new window).

Learn more about deleting your Snapchat account(new window)

Request data deletion

You can email Snapchat at privacy@snapchat.com with a request for data deletion. Or, if you’re in a region covered by privacy laws like the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA):

• Visit Snapchat’s Privacy Request Portal(new window).
• Select Submit a request under “Your Data Rights”.
• From there, you can request:
  • Access to the data Snap has stored.
  • Deletion of stored data.
  • Restrictions on future data processing.

How to wipe Snap Map’s history

To clear location history and stop passive location updates:

• Settings → See My Location → Ghost Mode ON.
• Tap Clear My Location on the Map.
• You can also revoke Snapchat’s location access completely through your phone’s Privacy or Location settings (iOS or Android).

Even after deletion or opt-out requests, Snapchat may retain:

• Metadata (timestamps, frequency of communication, general usage patterns)
• Friends’ saved messages or Memories (Snapchat can’t delete content others saved that includes your child)
• Device and log data for legal or operational reasons

Collaboration is your strongest tool as a parent

Snapchat can be a place of fun and friendship, but it’s also a product designed to shape behavior and harvest data. By understanding how it works under the hood, you’re not just protecting your child’s privacy—you’re helping them build digital literacy, self-awareness, and the confidence to navigate tech on their own terms.

At Proton, we advocate for a better internet, starting with your family’s privacy and safety. As more kids go online to spend time with their friends, we want to educate parents on how to maintain their child’s privacy, reduce data collection, and avoid inappropriate content.