Would you relinquish your privacy to look old? Don’t use FaceApp
Jul 23, 2019
Allen Murabayashi
We love it when our readers get in touch with us to share their stories. This article was contributed to DIYP by a member of our community. If you would like to contribute an article, please contact us here.
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Every once in a while, a “fun” website or app that requires us to upload a photo of ourselves goes viral. In 2015, it was Microsoft’s How-Old.net, which would guess your age based on a selfie. It turned out to be a showcase for Microsoft’s facial recognition technology.
Amazon followed in 2017 with its version that showcased its Rekognition API – the same controversial technology used by law enforcement, often under ambiguous circumstances.
In 2019, social media is awash with “aged photos” courtesy of the FaceApp Old filter. What do we know about FaceApp?
- It requires your Facebook login
- By using a Facebook federated login, FaceApp receives your name, profile picture, photos and email address
- The company’s privacy policy ambiguously states how it can share data with its “Affiliates”
- The company is based in Petersburg, Russia
Like many apps and websites, the Facebook federated login grants FaceApp an enormous amount of data. Your email can be used in combination with other data brokers to find out who you are, where you live, and other demographic information. Granting access to all your photos allows this personal information to be combined with highly accurate facial recognition.
I have no proof that FaceApp has any affiliation with the Russian government or intelligence agencies. But it’s not a stretch given that ICE and the FBI are already using driver license images to build law enforcement databases of people not even suspected of crimes (e.g. you) without consent.
Even if the intent is less nefarious (e.g. they’re selling data to a marketing aggregation data broker), the trade-off of your privacy for a simulation of your older self is a poor one. Don’t succumb to the novelty.
If you really want to know what you’ll look like when you’re old, just take a look at your parents.
About the Author
Allen Murabayashi is a graduate of Yale University, the Chairman and co-founder of PhotoShelter blog, and a co-host of the “I Love Photography” podcast on iTunes. For more of his work, check out his website and follow him on Twitter. This article was also published here and shared with permission.
We love it when our readers get in touch with us to share their stories. This article was contributed to DIYP by a member of our community. If you would like to contribute an article, please contact us here.
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25 responses to “Would you relinquish your privacy to look old? Don’t use FaceApp”
Posted on FB…
No privacy problems, stop hoax
Lubo Sentry Hrivnak read the terms and conditions. They own the rights to every image uploaded. Which is millions.
FAcebook owns the rights to all the photos you uploaded. Don’t be naive and fall for this fear mongering.
John Woodhead every app from store want to have access to your gallery etc. Do u think americans will use those pics for something?
John Woodhead read every TOS of every app on your phone…..
Faceapp has a TOS that is the same as ANY social media application, they have to state such terms in order to be able to let you distribute your images of yourself and make a profit from doing so. Otherwise they like other social media apps would open themselves up to litigation
Lubo Sentry Hrivnak they essentially modify your photo, with your permission, and therefore it becomes their artwork in a way. So theoretically they own the rights to the modified image.
And Google, Facebook, Instagram etc., don’t? Seriously?
The article is wrong, it does not require your FB login. I’ve used it and didn’t login though that option is there.
Well, seeing as I’ve visited Russia several times and they’ve scanned my passport they already have my facial biometrics, so I’m safe:)
“These Terms and your access to and use of our Services will begoverned by and construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of California…” (from faceAppTofU). S.-Petersburg also is mentioned, indeed.
But in general I agree – don’t be naive over this moment of laugh. At least read what rights you wave and note, they claim this permission to be irrevocable, perpetual, and so on.
Exactly, what hypocrisy to share a privacy clickbait scare article on Facebook, that collects 10X more Personal Identification Information (PII) and has shown time and again that it leaked or shared that data
I thought they are stealing my face credentials to use it as a way to unlocking my iPhone, hacking faceid? Now that would make a scary headline, everything else mentioned here was already compromised when we signed up for Facebook, or otherwise hacked and sold to Russians way back.
The photos are deleted from their site after 48 hours.
Quite honestly, I got nothing I hide. What do they want with my 80 year old predicted portrait
Don’t use FaceApp? Why? Because it’s Russian? It’s OK for American companies (Facebook, Youtube, Google, Instagram and many more) to have my photos, use them without my permission and sell my info to the highest bidder, AND supply it all to the US government, but FaceApp is the dangerous one?
The onslaught of American media on anything that is not American is pathetic. American tech is losing ground and instead of competing it tries to bash, belittle and delegitimize the competition. Good luck.
Like most of these “crazes”, I learned about it well after everyone else, and I still have absolutely no interest in trying it out. I’ve got enough junk apps as it is, don’t need to add another.
I already look old enough.
My FaceApp
Don’t need it. I have a mirror. Now an app that makes me look 20 again….
I seen one that somebody was using on reddit to make the cast of The Walking Dead look younger… can’t remember name of app though….
Del Robertson Somerville I’ve seen one that “zombie-fys” you
Privacy already relinquished using facebook, instagram & Whatsapp. One could simply stop using the internet and go live in the wild if they want total privacy.
So apart from the usual “OHMYGODRUSSIA” panic, this is basically no different than any other social media crap.