The recent hysteria about FaceApp privacy is mostly overblown, but the app does do some shady things that many other apps do, as well.
FaceApp lets you apply filters to your face to make you appear older. FaceApp was then accused of hijacking people’s personal information and photos and sending them to Russia. The internet pretty much blew a gasket and the media frenzy ensued
All this media hype has led to the following question – If you delete an app such as FaceApp, is the damage of granting these apps access to your info already done or are you safe again?
The Real Story About FaceApp
First things first: the fears about FaceApp specifically are a bit overblown. Aviran Hazum, a researcher from the antivirus company Check Point, said the app seems to be developed well with no greedy permissions, and it does what they claim it does.”
In fact, the initial warnings that the app steals all your images without asking are baseless and were eventually retracted. It is true, however, that the app is from a Russian developer, but without any evidence that the specific app or developer has done something wrong, it’s hard to hold that against the app.
While FaceApp may not be the major security challenge many initially thought, it does have some problems. Like many apps and services that we sign up for, it’s not always clear what the app does with our information, how long its kept, or with whom FaceApp shares your information.
FaceApp states that most images are deleted from their servers within 48 hours from the upload date. Several responses from the developer in the reviews on Google Play cite a similar 1-3 day time period.
Terms Of Service
The language of the company’s terms of service paints a grim picture.
“You grant FaceApp a perpetual, irrevocable, nonexclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, fully-paid, transferable sub-licensable license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, publicly perform & display your User Content and any name, username or likeness provided in connection with your User Content in all media formats and channels now known or later developed, without compensation to you.”
This gives FaceApp and its parent company Wireless Lab an enormous amount of latitude to do pretty much anything they want with your data.
There’s another section of the privacy policy that relates to targeted advertising.
“We may also share certain information such as cookie data with third-party advertising partners. This information would allow third-party ad networks to, among other things, deliver targeted advertisements that they believe will be of most interest to you.”
In other words, FaceApp works with online trackers, using data you’ve given them to better track you. Unfortunately, privacy policies like this are far too common.
Many companies that offer free services are part of a massive ecosystem designed to track you across the web and tailor advertisements to your interests. These companies have long argued that this is a small price to pay for a free service, and that targeted ads are more valuable to you, since they’re more relevant to you.
Whether you agree with that or not, companies are working hard to learn a lot about you in order to turn the data they collect into cash.
The Bottom Line
Regarding your photos, FaceApp only has access to the photos you edit in the app, and says it only retains those for a few days. You can request to have your information removed but, there’s no way for an individual user to verify that this has been done.
Other information, however, is used for targeted advertising and its fate is less clear. What is shared and what isn’t shared is not clear, and the privacy policy appears to say that some information is in the hands of other companies and can’t be taken back.
Remember, It’s Not Just FaceApp
The scrutiny of FaceApp was an unusual event. It started with an incorrect accusation and was exacerbated by the intense media paranoia related to nefarious online activity from Russia. However, what FaceApp does is not so different from activities of more familiar apps like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, and many, many others.
FaceApp may not be all bad, but we shouldn’t forget this lesson: Free apps ALWAYS want something in return. Maybe it’s your face, maybe it’s your excitement on social media, maybe it’s your phone number, maybe it’s “anonymized” personal information, or maybe it’s something nefarious like stealing you Social Security Number. The level of concern and scrutiny given to FaceApp should be given to every single app, site, service, and software you use. Ask what it wants, and if it’s not clear what it wants, ask yourself if it’s worth using the app at all.
Our online actions are being monitored constantly for the benefit of corporations willing to pay for the data. The over-the-top response to FaceApp has shown that people aren’t really comfortable with how many online companies operate—or are perceived to operate—and in my opinion, that’s a good thing. Remember FREE isn’t always free – someone, somewhere is making money from your online data
