Russian-Developed Mobile App Raises Privacy Concerns

FaceApp, a mobile app that lets users transform their faces in photos, stirred privacy concerns. The app, created by Russian company Wireless Lab, went viral in July after it released a new photo filter that alters users’ appearance to make them look younger or older. Some famous personalities, such as NBA player Lebron James, joined the bandwagon and uploaded their filtered photos online. The app already drew public attention when it was launched in 2017. It particularly made headlines for allowing users to modify their photos drastically, such as by changing genders, with just a few clicks. However, some users raised their concerns about how the app may be violating their privacy. One user wrote on social media that the app could be grabbing images from devices and uploading them to servers without users’ consent. As a result of the social media post, some people reacted negatively to how FaceApp handles users’ photos. In response to the concerns, FaceApp’s CEO explained that the app uploads photos to its servers to save users’ time in editing. He added that photos are automatically deleted from their servers 48 hours upon uploading and that users can request for deletion of their data. Although no evidence has been found that FaceApp is taking photos from users’ devices, experts believe that users should be more aware of how the app is using personal data. They advise users to think twice before giving FaceApp and similar apps access to their data. According to experts, FaceApp’s issues on data privacy open discussions on tech companies’ invasive practices and signify that people have learned their lesson from previous data privacy scandals.