Lincoln County Sheriff's Department warns parents about new Snapchat feature

The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department on Wednesday posted to its Facebook page a warning to parents whose children use the popular Snapchat messaging app.

Snapchat allows users to send photos and videos to one another. Earlier this year the company behind the app reported it had 158 million users.

The post noted that the most recent update to the app added a tracker that “allows you to view the exact location of your friends (that) can give you the area, town and street, and if you zoom in enough, it shows the house on the street layout.”

By setting the app to “ghost mode,” the Sheriff’s Department said that “no one can see where (users) are.”

“To do this make sure (the) app is the most updated version and go to selfie mode on the camera,” the post explains. “Then zoom out. It will give you the option of changing to who can see your location.”

For more information or for help making this adjustment, call the Sheriff’s Department at 406-293-4112.