Newsweek

Snap's IPO Might Be a Huge Win for Privacy

A viable media business can be built without invasion of privacy after all.
Snap is one of the few social media companies that doesn't base its business model on knowing everything it can about you.
02_24_Snap_02

Donald Trump may be the best thing that could happen to Snap’s upcoming initial public offering.

It’s not just that Snap’s Snapchat app stands to gain millions of users as people flee the noxious political cloud that has enveloped Facebook like pollution on a red-alert day in Beijing. There’s an even more significant way the new president will help the company: He is stoking fears about privacy and an Orwellian surveillance state, and Snap is one of the few social media companies that doesn’t base its business model on knowing everything it can about you. So, the thinking goes, a few years down the road, maybe you’ll be able to enjoy mainstream media on Snapchat absent the worry you’ll get a midnight knock on the door.

This might be the

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from Newsweek

Newsweek3 min read
Newsweek US
GLOBAL EDITOR IN CHIEF _ Nancy Cooper EXECUTIVE EDITOR _ Jennifer H. Cunningham VICE PRESIDENT, DIGITAL _ Laura Davis DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS _ Melissa Jewsbury OPINION EDITOR _ Batya Ungar-SargonGLOBAL PUBLISHING EDITOR _ Chris Roberts SENIOR EDITOR-
Newsweek4 min read
Penn & Kim Holderness
Newsweek _ What made you want to write this book? Penn Holderness _ You write the book you need. I knew that I needed to write this book when I saw that raising a family added a new level of difficulty to my brain being able to handle multiple tasks
Newsweek1 min read
Shadows and Light
The solar eclipse, seen here behind the Statue of Liberty on April 8, helped brighten up the U.S. economy. New York City, which was not on the path of totality, enjoyed 90 percent coverage as the moon passed in front of the sun. The Perryman Group es

Related Books & Audiobooks