Imagine what happens if you use an app just for fun, but it turns out that it is silently saving all your data. Even the thought of being exposed on this online space gives you a chill. This is what the viral Faceapp has actually revealed to be doing. Yes! Yes!
Faceapp is a popular online app that is currently trending. It is available on both Google play and Apple’s app store. It is fun to use because it predicts how you will look in the future based on a photo submitted by the user. The app has attracted a lot of attention from users because it predicts how one will look in the future by assessing a photo. People can also see their new looks with different hair colours, eyes and genders. This app was created by a Russian developer in 2017. However, it has gone viral after celebrities and other prominent people started using it and posting their older looks on social media sites. The app is a hit because it allows people to experiment with their looks without having to spend any money. Face app was the most downloaded app last week. We can now see many photos of celebrities and casual users of Face app floating around on various websites.
Faceapp is uploading an inordinate amount of photos daily. There is much doubt about how the app uses all this data. The app sends the photos to the server for filtering, and then it returns them. During the filtering process, the photos are also saved to the app’s cloud. FaceApp is systematically stealing users’ images, raising serious concerns. Chuck Schumer, a senior Democrat in the US, requested that the FBI investigate FaceApp. He claimed that FaceApp could pose “national security risks and privacy threats for millions of US citizens.”
Yaroslav Goncharov was the FaceApp CEO when security and data breaches began to surface on a large scale.
The app only uses the photo that was uploaded by the user. They do not transfer any other images from the phone.
Although photos may be stored on the cloud to support technical reasons, most images are deleted from the server within 48hrs of being uploaded.
Users also have the option to request the deletion of all their data from the server.
These explanations by the CEO are certainly making us feel at home. However, if we look at the policy of Faceapp on paper, it is clear that we are not informed about data storage. Face-app can store data even after the phone is turned off. This is clearly stated in the service policy.
I am certain that Faceapp is safe after the statement of Mr. Goncharov, but we must remember that online spaces are vulnerable and we must use them wisely.
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