Latest Trend FaceApp Poses Major Privacy Concerns

This AI-based app which adds filters to your photos may actually be unsafe for you. FaceApp is becoming increasingly popular and is currently among the top downloaded apps. It has been developed by a Russian company, Wireless Lab. FaceApp allows one to add filters such as making you smile, an older version, a younger version and different hairstyles. But have you read the terms and conditions properly? 

One of the terms reads: “You grant FaceApp a perpetual, irrevocable, nonexclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, fully-paid, transferable sub-licensable license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, publicly perform, and display your User Content and any name, username or likeness provided in connection with your User Content in all media formats and channels now known or later developed, without compensation to you.” This means that they can use your personal details without notifying or paying you, including your photos. Even if you delete the app, the information can be retained. If you’re thinking that changing the photo access permissions may work, you are wrong. 

Technology expert Steve Sammartino suggests that the company may even be able to get access to banking details soon. He said: “Your face is now a form of copyright where you need to be really careful who you give permission to access your biometric data. If you start using that willy-nilly, in the future when we’re using our face to access things, like our money and credit cards, then what we’ve done is we’ve handed the keys to others.” 

FaceApp has responded in a statement which claims that “most images are deleted from our servers within 48 hours from the upload date” and “we don’t sell or share any user data with any third parties.” They also suggested “even though the core R&D team is located in Russia, the user data is not transferred to Russia” and “ 99% of users don’t log in; therefore, we don’t have access to any data that could identify a person.” Now it’s up to you to decide whether you want to grow old naturally or through the app.