Snap Inc. is a Delaware-incorporated, NYSE-listed (Class A ticker SNAP) camera and social media company headquartered in Santa Monica, California, best known for Snapchat. Its Privacy Policy (effective April 7, 2025) states that Snap collects content, usage information, device information — including advertising identifiers and device-sensor data — location information (IP address), and, with device-level permissions, precise GPS location and phonebook contacts, and that it receives data from advertisers and other third parties to help target or measure the performance of ads. The policy and Snap's Cookie Policy state that Snap uses cookies, pixels, web storage, and unique advertising identifiers, including third-party cookies, for purposes including providing relevant advertising. Its track record includes a 2014 FTC settlement over charges that its promises of disappearing messages were false and that it transmitted Android users' geolocation despite a privacy-policy statement that it did not, and a court-authorized $35,000,000 Illinois BIPA class settlement (Boone v. Snap Inc., 2022) over alleged biometric data collection through Lenses and Filters. Ownership is publicly disclosed but voting control is concentrated: the FY2025 Form 10-K lists subsidiaries with jurisdictions and states that co-founders Evan Spiegel and Robert Murphy control over 99% of the voting power while Class A shares carry no voting rights; Wikidata records no parent organization above Snap Inc.
TRACK RECORD
2 ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS
[2014-05-08]
On May 8, 2014, the FTC announced that Snapchat agreed to settle charges that it "deceived consumers with promises about the disappearing nature of messages sent through the service"; the FTC's complaint also alleged that "Snapchat transmitted geolocation information from users of its Android app, despite saying in its privacy policy that it did not track or access such information", that it "collected iOS users' contacts information from their address books without notice or consent", and that a Find Friends security failure "enabled attackers to compile a database of 4.6 million Snapchat usernames and phone numbers"; under the settlement the company is required to implement a comprehensive privacy program monitored by an independent privacy professional for 20 years.
The court-authorized settlement notice in Boone, et al. v. Snap Inc. (Case No. 2022LA000708, Circuit Court of the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit, DuPage County, Illinois) states that plaintiffs alleged Snap violated Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act by "collecting and storing biometric identifiers and/or biometric information" through Snapchat's Lenses and Filters features without complying with BIPA's requirements, and that "The Settlement, if approved, would provide $35,000,000" for a class of "All Illinois residents who used Lenses or Filters offered by Snap between November 17, 2015 and the present".
Snap's Privacy Policy (effective April 7, 2025) states that when people use its services Snap collects usage, content, and "device information (such as your hardware or software, operating system, device memory, advertising identifiers, apps installed, browser type, information from device sensors that measure the motion of your device or compasses and microphones, including whether you have headphones connected, and information about your wireless and mobile connections)", plus "location information (IP address)" — and, where device-level permissions are explicitly granted, device phonebook contacts and "location information (precise location through methods like GPS signals)".
Snap Inc.'s Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025 (Commission File Number 001-38017, filed with the SEC on February 5, 2026) identifies Delaware as its state of incorporation, Santa Monica, California as its principal executive offices, and its NYSE-listed Class A common stock (ticker SNAP); it also disclosed that "Our two co-founders, Evan Spiegel and Robert Murphy, control over 99% of the voting power of our outstanding capital stock as of December 31, 2025" and that "Class A common stockholders have no voting rights, unless required by Delaware law."
Exhibit 21.1 ("Subsidiaries of the Registrant") of Snap Inc.'s FY2025 Form 10-K disclosed each subsidiary's legal name and jurisdiction of incorporation or organization — including Snap LLC (Nevada), Snap Group Limited (United Kingdom), Snap Intermediate Inc. (Delaware), Snap Group SAS (France), Snap ULC (Canada), Snap Camera GmbH (Germany), and Wave Optics Limited (United Kingdom).
Wikidata's registry entry for Snap Inc. (Q27022329) records it as a public company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, founded by Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy, with no parent-organization (P749) statement — Snap Inc. is the top of its own ownership chain.
Snap's Privacy Policy's "How We Share Information" section states that Snap shares information with service providers ("we rely on such Service Providers to facilitate payments, measure and optimize the performance of ads, or protect the services"), business and integrated partners, anti-fraud industry partners, and internal subsidiaries ("Snap Inc. consists of different subsidiaries owned by us."); the policy also states Snap receives "data from advertisers (information from advertisers, app developers, publishers, and other third parties to help target or measure the performance of ads)".
The court-authorized settlement notice in Boone, et al. v. Snap Inc. (Case No. 2022LA000708, Circuit Court of the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit, DuPage County, Illinois) states that plaintiffs alleged Snap violated Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act by "collecting and storing biometric identifiers and/or biometric information" through Snapchat's Lenses and Filters features without complying with BIPA's requirements, and that "The Settlement, if approved, would provide $35,000,000" for a class of "All Illinois residents who used Lenses or Filters offered by Snap between November 17, 2015 and the present".
On May 8, 2014, the FTC announced that Snapchat agreed to settle charges that it "deceived consumers with promises about the disappearing nature of messages sent through the service"; the FTC's complaint also alleged that "Snapchat transmitted geolocation information from users of its Android app, despite saying in its privacy policy that it did not track or access such information", that it "collected iOS users' contacts information from their address books without notice or consent", and that a Find Friends security failure "enabled attackers to compile a database of 4.6 million Snapchat usernames and phone numbers"; under the settlement the company is required to implement a comprehensive privacy program monitored by an independent privacy professional for 20 years.
Snap's Cookie Policy states that "Snap Inc. uses cookies, including third-party cookies" for purposes including "providing relevant advertising"; that its Marketing cookies are used "to deliver advertisements, to make them more relevant and meaningful to consumers, and to track the efficiency of our advertising campaigns, both on our services and on other websites or mobile apps"; and that "We may let other companies use cookies on our services", companies which "may collect information about how you use our services over time and combine it with similar information from other services and companies."
Snap's Privacy Policy states that, depending on settings, Snap collects "information collected by cookies and similar technologies" — naming "cookies, pixels (small graphic data that recognize user activity, such as if and how often a user has visited a website), web storage, unique advertising identifiers" — as well as log information including access times, pages viewed, IP address, and unique identifiers like cookies.