Thousands of pictures from photo sharing app Snapcat have allegedly been compromised. The pictures have been released online in the latest breach of private online user privacy called the Snappening.

The pictures of thousands of American shared through Snapchat have been allegedly compromised. The pictures, which are shared to friends using the application, were reportedly seized and stored bny third party applications.

Hackers accessed the private photos observer a couple of years and are now releasing the photos online. The photos are said to include images of juveniles as half of the users of the site are children between 13 and 17.

The photos are said to have been released on Sunday in an event being dubbed the Snappening.

It is reported that the pictures that were accessed were through the use of third party applications. The third party applications are able to access Snapchat photographs. It is said that the latest breach happened through these apps.

Users who downloaded the file claimed that it contained thousands of images, some reportedly from Snapchat.

Snapchat claimed over the weekend that it was not the source of the leak as its servers have never been compromised. It also claimed it restricted the use of addons and even strictly prohibited their use in their terms and conditions and user policy. Such use could compromise their security.

"Snapchatters were allegedly victimized by their use of third-party apps to send and receive Snaps, a practice that we expressly prohibit in our terms of use precisely because they compromise our users' security," reported a Snapchat Spokeswoman.

Snapchat went ahead to affirm that they vigilantly monitored their App store and Google Play for these add ons and that they had succeeded in getting them removed.

Snapchat enables users to send pictures and share videos to users, which disappear after up to 10 seconds. Recipients have never had the chance to screen grab or save the photos.