Periscope
Summary
Periscope is a live video streaming app developed by Twitter in 2015. The app can be downloaded for free on any mobile smartphone.
Breach History
Has there ever been a breach or data leak?
Date of last breach
July 2020
Twitter had a major breach when hackers employed a social engineering tactic that accessed employees' internal systems and tools. Hackers then accessed verified accounts and posted scam donation links, which led to hundreds of thousands of dollars being raised for a fake cause. Twitter had to temporarily deactivate verified users for damage control.
Privacy Checklist
Is any kind of biometric data collected (health, heart, voice, etc.)?
Are you able to delete your data / the data collected about you?
Does it use cookies, telemetry, or third-party tracking scripts?
Is the privacy policy user-friendly (easy to understand)?
Does it have parental controls?
Does it use encryption to protect your data both in-transit and at-rest?
Does it get regular software and / or firmware updates?
Does it require you to create a strong password?
Is there a system in place for managing security vulnerabilities?
Does it have a privacy policy?
How Can It Snoop?
Does it have a camera or request / require access to a camera?
Does it have a microphone or request / require access to a microphone?
Does it track your location or request / require access to location data?
Account Requirements
Does it require an email address to use?
Does it require a phone number to use?
Does it require an address (home or office) to use?
Payment Options
Are you able to use a credit card as a payment option?
Are you able to use a cryptocurrency as a payment option?
Are you able to use PayPal as a payment option?
Are you able to use cash or gift cards as a payment option?
What Could Go Wrong?
Not much risk in using this app. Twitter does collect information such as name, email, phone number, and IP address. However, it only discloses anonymized, statistical data to third parties with your consent.
How Does It Share Your Data?
Twitter can share your personal data with your consent through a third-party web client or application or if required by law. Otherwise, anonymized data such as total number of people engaged with a tweet and demographics may be shared with advertisers.
Good Things
- Excellent interface.
- Easy to find and view streams.
- Private streams.
Bad Things
- Requires Twitter account.
- No control over adults streaming explicit content that children can access.
Final Thoughts
Periscope has been a safe app to share videos with your online friends. Twitter can share your data with third parties, but only with your consent. Twitter does store personal information, but will never share the information. However, hackers did access employee accounts and post scam tweets that led to hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations. People were duped, and Twitter had a tough time in damage control. Be aware of scammers and those who may look to con you.