The FaceApp challenge is sweeping through social media giving us all a glimpse at how we’ll look in our twilight years.
A host of celebs have been sharing their own FaceApp makeovers, including Piers Morgan and Marvin and Rochelle Humes.
But there’s a more sinister side to the free-to-download app that users need to be aware of.
Whether or not you use an iPhone or an Android device, FaceApp says that by using its services it can keep hold of your pictures.
According to the app’s Privacy Policy, it says it collects all the images you upload to the service. But, going further, it also states that it can collect other content that includes ‘photos and other materials that you post through’ FaceApp.
The issue was brought to light after a developer called Joshua Nozzi posted on Twitter that the app tried to upload other photos from his library to its platform.
However, not everyone agreed that the app automatically started rooting around in your photo library.
Given the amount of sensitive data that people hold in their phone’s photo stream (think bank statements, addresses, receipts, etc) they should always exercise a bit of caution before installing a new app and giving it access to their photos.
And make no mistake, FaceApp is storing up the photos that you upload to it. The company’s policy states that it ‘will not rent or sell your information to third parties outside FaceApp,’ but it does explicitly say that it shares information with ‘third-party advertising partners.’
Despite the concerns over privacy, FaceApp has lit up the internet for the second time thanks to the age filter.
The Russian-developed app first went viral in 2017 but has reemerged since adding the option for users to advance their ages.
The results speak for themselves.
The good news is that, at any time, users are able to send a request to an app to find out exactly how much of their personal information is being stored.
Under the GDPR legislation, a company can be asked to delete your personal information unless they can demonstrably prove that they need to keep hold of it.
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