Here's why you shouldn't be using the viral photo editing app FaceApp to look older

What is FaceApp and how it does the magic

FaceApp came to news for the first time in early 2017 and left a lot of people shocked. A lot of media reports termed it as a "creepy" photo app that distorted/modified the features that were part of the image of the user's face. However, there was nothing 'creepy' per se about the app or the capability. The FaceApp has been developed by a team working out of Saint-Petersburg, Russia.  The app basically can play with the facial features, tweak them with quirks like adding a smile to a straight face or change the apparent gender or even alter the look for age with the help of an in-built software. FaceApp is available as a free download on iOS and Android. 

Talking to Techcrunch back in 2017, FaceApp founder and CEO Yaroslav Goncharov explained, “We developed a new technology that uses neural networks to modify a face on any photo while keeping it photorealistic. For example, it can add a smile, change gender and age, or just make you more attractive.” The CEO had stressed that the FaceApp used neural networks to keep selfies of users as photorealistic as possible.

FaceApp Privacy Issues: Why it is a privacy disaster!

There's no doubt that FaceApp is doing wonders when it comes to providing what people exactly want from it be it an image with changed gender or looking older. However, the data collected by the app is the real concern here. 

When continuing to dig further in terms of use of app, FaceApp adds, "When you post or otherwise share User Content on or through our Services, you understand that your User Content and any associated information (such as your [username], location or profile photo) will be visible to the public."

Deep diving into FaceApp's terms revealed some more interesting tidbits like, "You grant FaceApp consent to use the User Content, regardless of whether it includes an individual’s name, likeness, voice or persona, sufficient to indicate the individual’s identity." If you understood the above excerpt, then you know that the app wants you to sign away rights to the images it acquires with your prior consent and the biometrics as well, with all these giving the app-maker clarity on your identity - and the legal trap is that the user cannot contest this acquisition at any further date in any jurisdiction. 

"By using the Services, you agree that the User Content may be used for commercial purposes. You further acknowledge that FaceApp’s use of the User Content for commercial purposes will not result in any injury to you or to any person you authorised to act on its behalf," it adds. We don't want to freak you out, for it is possible that your data may be safely secured at a server somewhere on Earth, but the problem here will be FaceApp will still have the license to use it anywhere and everywhere without your permission. 

"You acknowledge that some of the Services are supported by advertising revenue and may display advertisements and promotions, and you hereby agree that FaceApp may place such advertising and promotions on the Services or on, about, or in conjunction with your User Content."

FaceApp Privacy Concerns: Information at risk

PhoneArena's Peter Kostadinov rightly points out, "You might end up on a billboard somewhere in Moscow, but your face will most likely end up training some AI facial-recognition algorithm."

Many tech pundits will argue that FaceApp isn't doing anything different than Google, Facebook, Twitter, or other popular apps have been doing for years now. But there's a difference of accountability. We have seen over the years that the data collected by popular social media apps are not necessarily used in the way we think. The data is used to target users in a way they can probably predict. But this doesn't mean that your Facebook profile picture has ended up on a billboard somewhere. In this case, FaceApp can exactly do that.

Cambridge Analytica created a ruckus for Facebook when it was revealed that the social media giant wasn't even aware of the collected data from users. What followed was learning for both Facebook and its users. 

Data is today's gold, and the users will also have to take responsibility for the information they share on any app on their smartphone. App creators, on the other hand, have to make sure that they don't sell the data collected to anyone. FaceApp continues to be available for users as a free download, and we leave the decision to use it or not to you.

FaceApp acknowledges privacy concern

The company has updated on tons of inquiries about the privacy policy, starting with the processing of photos. In a statementsent to Techcrunch, FaceApp claimed that it performs most of the photo processing in the cloud. "We only upload a photo selected by a user for editing. We never transfer any other images from the phone to the cloud." 

On storage of photos, FaceApp commented, "We might store an uploaded photo in the cloud. The main reason for that is performance and traffic: we want to make sure that the user doesn't upload the photo repeatedly for every edit operation. Most images are deleted from our servers within 48 hours from the upload date."

Acknowledging the elephant in the room, FaceApp claims that it doesn't sell or share any user data with any third parties. "Even though the core R&D team is located in Russia, the user data is not transferred to Russia," it adds.