VERIFY: Can social media companies hold onto your data indefinitely?

Social media is nearly essential to everyday life, so Local 5 is verifying whether social media companies can hold onto users’ data and messages indefinitely. DES MOINES, Iowa — In criminal trials, we’re used to seeing attorneys introduce physical evidence like a murder weapon or a fingerprint, but did you know a tweet or a saved Snapchat message can also be used in a court of law?  During the murder trial of Cristhian Bahena Rivera, text messages and Snapchat messages have been introduced as evidence. Social media is nearly essential now to everyday life and how these apps are used can have long-term consequences, so Local 5 is verifying whether social media companies can hold onto users’ data and messages indefinitely. Local 5’s sources are the privacy and data security webpages of Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat. This is a complicated question, but the short answer is yes. According to Facebook’s privacy page, the company “stores data until it is no longer necessary to provide [their] services and Facebook Products, or until [a user’s] account is deleted – whichever comes first.” Facebook may hold onto a user’s data longer if that user is involved in a police or government investigation or…
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