ALERT SUMMARY
1. A Russian company created FaceApp and the terms of service share as little as possible about what they do with your data.
2. FaceApp is going viral with millions of people downloading this application onto their personal device.
3. FaceApp uses similar catchalls in their terms and conditions like Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat that are currently being investigated by the FTC for privacy violations
A Russian company called Wireless Lab is going viral for developing a mobile application that allows users to alter their appearance in a hyper-realistic way, sharing what they might look like in 30 years. Millions of people downloaded this application directly to their personal device and the terms of service share as little as possible about what they actually do with your data. The company is under fire for their ethnicity filters and a ‘hot’ filter. But more recently a new issue has arrived, and it has nothing to do with your face. Your privacy may be at serious risk with this application.
Read the Privacy Policy before downloading FaceApp and you will learn that the terms and conditions are not written for your benefit. Instead the terms cover potential legal liabilities protecting Wireless Lab while sharing as little as possible about what FaceApp is actually doing with your data. “Privacy invasions often sneak in through ‘fun’ disguises,” CNET cybersecurity and privacy reporter Alfred Ng warns “it’s important for people not to fall for these traps. It’s like Hansel and Gretel and the candy house.”
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