There are growing calls for privacy checks to be carried out into the latest app trend.
Countless people have been sharing pictures of themselves on social media in recent weeks, using FaceApp.
The app alters people's photos to make them look younger or, in most cases, older.
Those early mornings are really catching up on the #98fmBigBreakfast team 😄 pic.twitter.com/5zq6NQLuEQ
— 98FM (@98FM) July 17, 2019
However, some have raised concerns that users don't realise how much permission they give the app when they download it.
FaceApp’s terms say users grant it a “perpetual, irrevocable, nonexclusive, royalty-free, worldwide” license to do whatever it wants with your photos.
While that might sound terrifying, it's a similar sentiment to the terms found on most social media apps.
A French security researcher ran a check on the app, and found it only uploads the photo a user is modifying.
FaceApp told 9to5Mac that it "might store" some uploaded photos in the cloud for "performance and traffic" reasons.
FaceApp - Russian Roulette
Politicians in the UK and US aren't happy that FaceApp is owned by a company based in Russia.
A US Senator has called it "deeply troubling" that personal data of US citizens could go to a "hostile foreign power".
Chuck Schumer has called for the FBI to investigate the app, and what it does with users' information.
"I have serious concerns regarding both the protection of the data that is being aggregated as well as whether users are aware of who may have access to it," he wrote on Twitter.
BIG: Share if you used #FaceApp:
The @FBI & @FTC must look into the national security & privacy risks now
Because millions of Americans have used it
It’s owned by a Russia-based company
And users are required to provide full, irrevocable access to their personal photos & data pic.twitter.com/cejLLwBQcr
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) July 18, 2019
The UK's data watchdog says it's "considering" concerns about the app, which has 80 million active users.
FaceApp said that, while its research and development teams is based in Russia, user data "is not transferred to Russia".
