Image By: Ryan Nagelmann

Do you Snapchat?

Since it’s release in September 2011, Snapchat has been a popular mode of communication for teenagers and young adults.

The application, available for Andriods and Iphones, allows users to send pictures or videos to a recipient for a prearranged time, no more than ten seconds. Then the Snap will “disappear forever.” 

Some have scoffed at the functionality of the app, saying it promotes sexting and can be used for communication between terrorists and criminals. 

There may be a way to mitigate some of this behavior, however it is going to come at at a price.

Engineers like Richard Hickman, lead examiner for Decipher Forensics’ Snapchat research, have developed ways to retrieve photos from the Android version of Snapchat. 

Decipher Forensics released a blogpost on Wednesday saying they would charge $300-500 to recover Snapchat photos using recent forensic software.

This same software can be used to get back deleted text messages, photographs, calendar data, phone records and contacts.  The company started researching Snapchat after they were asked to look into it for both a divorce and missing child case. 

So what does this mean for millions of Snapchat users?

Do you think the app will redouble its precautions to make sure the photos are really deleted? Will Snaps become evidence in the courtroom?