The Russia based picture editing app that has gone viral after its old age filter took social media by storm, is raising some serious privacy concerns.
The app first went viral in 2017. However, the intensity was much higher this time because of a filter that makes users look older or younger. The filter became popular overnight, with celebrities all over the world sharing their edited pictures on social media.
While it has been the talk of the town for a few days now, users recently started pointing out that the app is actually harvesting metadata from their photos.
While according to Page Six, the app is not doing anything unusual in its code or network traffic, that a couple of other apps in your phone don't already do, it still raises a big concern.
Some people are concerned that the app's access to photos on their smartphones is a grand giveaway of privacy and personal information.
This conversation about privacy policy does bring attention to standard tech practices that might be more invasive than the users are aware of.
In the company's Terms of Service, it says users grant FaceApp "a perpetual, irrevocable, nonexclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, fully-paid, transferable, sub-licensable license to use, reproduce ... create derivative works from ... 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," USA Today reported.
While using the app, a user selects a specific photo they want to put the filter on. The application then uploads the particular photo to its server to apply the selected filter on it. While the app does not state that it downloads the photo, it is not unusual for a company to do so, reported Page Six.
Officials from FaceApp are yet to comment on the raised concerns.
( With inputs from ANI )