By now, you should have noticed another new trend on your social media accounts. Friends and family are now trying and posting up their version of how they look being old, thanks to this app called FaceApp and yes, this is very similar to the previous #10YearsChallenge that happened earlier this year and you should probably be careful with this #AgeChallenge trend as well due to privacy concerns.
Before we get into the privacy concerns of FaceApp, here's a quick lesson about the app. It's not exactly a new app but certainly, a young one as it was released in 2017 on both iOS and Android.
At first glance, it is a pretty harmless app as it uses the AI algorithm to filter the user's facial construction to look older, younger, or with a beard, a new hairstyle and others, which is what you're seeing on the social media and we are quite impressed with the results. Here's mine, for example.
By the way, FaceApp is currently the #1 top free and #2 top-grossing app on the Apple App Store now, thanks to everyone who's jumping on the bandwagon. There are also more than 100,000,000 Android FaceApp users.
The "Terms and Conditions"
So now that we have put the introduction aside, it's time to look into the privacy concerns. You see, this is not some app from the west, this app is developed by Wireless Lab, a Russian firm and you probably skipped the Terms and Conditions (we are guilty as charged as well) and to save your time, here's one of the sentences where it 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".
- "FaceApp, its Affiliates, or Service Providers may transfer information that we collect about you, including personal information across borders and from your country or jurisdiction to other countries or jurisdictions around the world. If you are located in the European Union or other regions with laws governing data collection and use that may differ from U.S. law, please note that we may transfer information, including personal information, to a country and jurisdiction that does not have the same data protection laws as your jurisdiction."
In other words, you are authorizing the Russian firm with the rights to use your photo that you uploaded to the app. Even if you have deleted or stop using the app, they still have the rights to use your photo. So who knows, your face might be used for some photoshop illustration or something, but ultimately with the many faces uploaded there, the AI algorithm is learning fast to distinguish and train itself to recognize facial features.
Although the company won't share your information with third parties, they aren't restricted in sharing them with other businesses that are legally part of the same group of companies.
Any Solution?
To be frank, things like this is inevitable and many social apps do the same practice. However, it looks like Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has requested the FBI and the FTC to investigate Wireless Lab's app. Here's a transcript of his letter below:
"In order to operate the application, users must provide the company full and irrevocable access to their personal photos and data. According to its privacy policy, users grant FaceApp license to use or publish content shared with the application, including their username or even their real name, without notifying them or providing compensation.
Furthermore, it is unclear how long FaceApp retains a user’s data or how a user may ensure their data is deleted after usage. These forms of “dark patterns,” which manifest in opaque disclosures and broader user authorizations, can be misleading to consumers and may even constitute a deceptive trade practice. Thus, I have serious concerns regarding both the protection of the data that is being aggregated as well as whether users are aware of who may have access to it.
In particular, FaceApp’s location in Russia raises questions regarding how and when the company provides access to the data of U.S. citizens to third parties, including potentially foreign governments."
To add on, FaceApp makers have also responded to the issue. They claimed that the company don't track users and doesn't sell their data to third parties (as stated earlier). They also claim that most of the photos are deleted within 48 hours, as well as the data aren't transferred to Russia at all since they are using AWS and Google Cloud. You can read the rest of their statement below:
So what now?
Just like the #10YearsChallenge trend, I think this #AgeChallenge is pretty harmless and it's totally nothing new about companies using your personal and private data for their marketing research.
But just so you know, we are now in the digital age where the AI algorithm is watching your every move you make online, hence the annoying advertisements popping out so please be careful as usual about what you do online.
So what do you think about this? Let's discuss and if you managed to read until the end of this page, get yourself a deserved cookie and stay tuned for more tech opinion pieces at TechNave.com.
COMMENTS