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The viral FaceApp photo filter allows you to digitally age yourself by a few decades, but experts are warning that the app poses several security risks for the millions who use it.
The "old age filter," which celebrities including Kim Kardashian, the Jonas Brothers and Carrie Underwood have used to post their aged faces online using the #faceappchallenge tag, could give the Russian developers of the app access to your personal information and identity.
According to the app's Terms and Conditions, it has the right to modify, reproduce and publish any of the images you process through its AI, the New York Post reports.
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“You grant FaceApp a perpetual, irrevocable… royalty-free… license to use, adapt, publish, distribute your user content… in all media formats… when you post or otherwise share,” British digital strategist James Whatley said on Twitter.
The Post reports that they can therefore use your real name, your username or “any likeness provided” in any format without notifying, much less paying, you. They can also reportedly retain that material as long as they want, even after you delete the app, and you won’t be able to stop them.
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A security expert told The Daily Mail that hackers, who could be tied to Russia's government, could log into websites you've visited and potentially see the "activities" performed in those websites.
"Imagine now they used the phone's camera to secretly record a young gay person, that visits gay sites, but didn't yet go public with that, and they connect his face with the websites he is using," digital security expert Ariel Hochstadt told The Daily Mail.
On Wednesday, the FaceApp developers released a statement saying that the images are shared "anonymously," that they cannot identify the user or any other data based on their pictures, and that they do not sell or share any user data with third parties. The company's privacy policy is explained here.
The popular app allows users to double or triple their current age, swap genders, appear younger or even try out facial hair.
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