If we have learned anything from the Snapchat nude photo leak, we know that at its core— with the premise that photos and videos vanish in seconds after opening— the app is flawed.
Some security experts are blaming Snapchat for providing a false sense of comfort to its users. Users felt comfortable sending photos because they knew their images would self-destruct.
While that proved to be false, designer Diego Trujillo created a printer that self-destructs images by using pyrotechnics to burn the paper after it's viewed.
The self-destructing printer, part of Trujillo's This Tape Will Self-Destruct art project, might bring Snapchat to real life for people who have sworn off putting intimate photos or documents online.
To refresh the facts behind the nude photo leaks, it was revealed that unidentified parties had access to at least 100,000 Snapchat photos on hacker forums. Eventually, hackers leaked around 90,000 snaps and 9,000 videos.
Snapchat blamed the scandal on third-party apps that allow users to save images sent and received. "Snapchatters were allegedly victimized by their use of third-party apps to send and receive Snaps, a practice that we expressly prohibit in our terms of use precisely because they compromise our users' security," the company said.
Snapchat said its servers were not breached, but rather third-party apps were storing photos of its users, half of who are aged 13 to 17 years.
The "Snappening" security breach occurred after hackers leaked intimate photos of celebrities that include Jennifer Lawrence, Kim Kardashian, Rihanna, Kate Upton, Hope Solo, Gabrielle Union and Mary-Kate Olsen on Reddit and 4chan.
Even though the designer used printouts of Cold War pictures for his art project, the self-destructing printer uses the same idea of self-destruction.
The printer works by combining glycerol and potassium salt to trigger an exothermic reaction that causes the paper to burn. Trujillo created the project as a commentary on how spy fiction stories of the past are now relevant again during a time where people attempt to keep their private information out of the hands of the NSA.
Using the self-destructing paper for printing photos may seem a bit of an overkill. But if the leaks have taught us one thing, it is to think twice before showing private photos— unless you know for sure that they will disappear.
