When you send or receive Snaps and Chats, metadata is created. Metadata is information about a Snap and Chat such as the date, time, sender and receiver.
Metadata does not include the content of the Snap or Chat you send or receive. To learn more about the content of Snaps and Chats and when they are deleted go to 'When does Snapchat delete Snaps and Chats?' and 'Saving and Deleting Snaps'.
What is the purpose of metadata?
Metadata is necessary to offer you some of our most liked features. For example, metadata allows us to show you the Friends you Snap with the most (Best Friends), create fun Charms to celebrate your friendship, display Friend Emojis to highlight your BFFs, and show Snapstreaks next to your Friends.
Metadata is also used for other purposes, for example it allows us to analyse which features are used most often, and it also helps us to improve Snapchat and fix bugs.
How long is Snap metadata stored for?
We only store metadata as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes described above. That’s why most metadata is deleted after 30 days. If we need to keep metadata longer, we’ll remove personal identifiers before processing the data for analytical purposes.