Russian-Owned FaceApp Responds To Widespread Privacy Fears

Russian-Owned FaceApp Responds To Widespread Privacy Fears
Edward Pollitt
By Edward Pollitt
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FaceApp, the photo-editing app that can make you look older or younger using AI, has been going crazy on social media this week.

But the fun has been soured by widespread security concerns regarding how the app accesses user’s personal photos and the Russian company’s sketchy terms of use.

Now the company in question has responded to the accusations, FaceApp CEO Yaroslav Goncharov claiming there is nothing to worry about.

“FaceApp 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,” Goncharov said.

It had previously been suggested the app uploads photos without user permission.

When asked how long FaceApp stores the photos, Goncharov said “most” are deleted after 48 hours.

He also claimed that despite the terms of use stating FaceApp can do whatever it wants with user data through an “irrevocable, nonexclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, fully-paid, transferrable sub-licensable license”, the company does not sell any data to third-parties or Russian authorities.

He also suggested the company would be updating the terms of use to better reflect its approach to privacy.

Despite FaceApp’s claim, technology columnist at The Washington Post Geoffrey Fowler reported the app was sharing information about his phone with Facebook and Google AdMob.

Technology giants Apple and Google have also faced criticism for the app, with some questioning why FaceApp was allowed to feature on their respective app stores.

Google even labelled it an ‘Editor’s Choice’.

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