As a shooter stalked his way through a Florida high school, killing at least 17 people, those hiding in lockdown were for the first time uploading Snapchat stories to a web-based interactive map.

The map allowed them, for the first time, to share their dramatic footage and messages not just to family, friends, and other app users, but anyone who cared to tune in online.

In one video, shots can be heard ringing out while students duck for cover. A caption on it reads "Our f------ school is being shot up".

Others show students waiting in lockdown, heavily armed police moving through the school, and one child declaring themself "safe".

The Snap Map has been an in-app feature since June last year – but just this week it launched itself onto the web, enabling anyone with a browser to head to the page, zoom in and click on any location around the world and see what people are snapping about nearby.

Sydney had a taste of it earlier this week, when black smoke engulfed Circular Quay and surrounding streets in the CBD on Tuesday morning. The thermal-image coding on the map shows where the action is going on.

Any particular events or incidents that are attracting large amounts of snaps may become a featured story.

When breaking news happens – like the Florida shooting, or this week's fire at Circular Quay – the map reveals its potential as an immediate, unfiltered news source that can take viewers from anywhere in the world to ground zero.

That makes it a valuable resource for news organisations, who can now embed Snapchat stories like they would a tweet or Instagram post.

For privacy advocates, though, Snap Map represents yet another tumble along the slippery slope of relinquishing our right to privacy in the name of 'fun' and 'convenience' – or, in the case of news stories like the Florida shooting, the audience's appetite for watching disasters unfold.

David Vaile, co-convenor of the Cyberspace Law and Policy Community at the University of NSW, says companies like Snapchat are exploiting users' impulse to share information in exchange for attention without considering the consequences.

"It will probably be mostly quite young people doing this, and you're not saying to them 'Warning: don't try this at home, you could hurt yourself or other people.' It's the equivalent of giving a weapon to a baby. The potential for adverse consequences, even if they're not immediate, is significant. You wouldn't let people drive a car without training."

Although the ability to publish photos and videos to large audiences via social media is not new, the format of the Snap Map is concerning due to the ease with which anyone can access the content, along with users' locations, says Mr Vaile.

In a live shooting situation, the possible consequences are deadly, he says. "Without realising, you could be broadcasting your location and making yourself more vulnerable in this situation." And in the longer-term, "you could be encouraging other kids to stage real or hoax shootings in order to get attention," he says.

Mr Vaile also has serious concerns for the privacy of individuals who may be filmed without their consent and find themselves permanently broadcast across the internet – whether they're victims of violence or simply unsuspecting individuals walking down the street.

"People [may be] identified, against their will and against their interest, doing things that might have repercussions for them," he said, whether that's "being with the wrong person, in the wrong place, doing the wrong thing, or at the wrong time.

"Those doing it will almost certainly have little or no ethical or other editorial training about what is 'fit to print' versus what may be dangerous, intrusive or harassing to the subjects, and perhaps no awareness that some things that 'the public might be interested in' are not 'in the public interest' to broadcast," he said.

His advice to Snapchat users? Don't opt in to the latest feature.

"The unintended and hard-to-predict risks for the other people into whose lives you intrude, will often outweigh any thrill or real interest in broadcasting the content. And you will not be thanked by those whose affairs you mess up."

Fairfax Media has contacted Snapchat to request a comment.