Snapchat, a popular tool among teenagers wanting too fool around, is priced for its privacy and security features, which are especially useful for youngsters engage in sexting or the exchanges of sexually suggestive images and videos.

However, recent reports suggested that Snapchat is not entirely foolproof. One flaw, according to The Sydney Morning Herald bog Digital Life, was the revelation of Snapchat users' email address, contradicting the app's claim of anonymity.

The hole was detected in mid-December 2012 by Geoff Stearns, Digital Life said, and was only corrected this week despite efforts by Mr Stearns to call the attention of Snapchat executives.

In order to expose a given email address on Snapchat, users need only to key in their username and then hit Enter without supplying the password. This automatically prompt question if a 'password reset' is needed.

As soon as users okayed, the email address will be flashed next, a flaw that potentially would allow anyone to search the email address owners on Facebook or Google, Mr Stearns told Digital Life.

And for Snapchat users who had used the service sending compromising pics and clips, convinced that these will be deleted after a few moments, think again according to BGR News.

Citing a blog post by Katie Notopoulos from BuzzFeed, BGR said that unopened files from Snapchat can actually be saved on a local computer. This can be done by connecting the recipient smartphone to a PC then search for the Snapchat's file repository folder.

Once the 'hot files' are found, they can be easily dragged and copied to a computer's drive, quashing Snapchat's claims that your momentary indiscretions, sent to someone else's phone, are gone forever after a preset countdown for the file's self-deletion process.

It appears that Snapchat's security claims work only on image files, which BuzzFeed said are completely inaccessible. The problem was both present on Android and iOS platforms but according to CNET, the Android-based issue has been resolved.

CNET noted too that a similar app from Facebook, Poke, is also fraught with the same concern though the social networking is already probing the BuzzFeed claim.