FaceApp – Does It Pose A Security Threat?
FACEAPP – This week, a new photo editing app with a new extreme feature went viral and millions of people started hopping into the trend.
Recently, photo manipulation apps have been taking things further by constantly adding new features. A hot topic lately, was a photo editing feature that allows users to change their gender appearance.
Famous celebrities also hopped into the trend ‘Gender Swap.’
Meanwhile, a new app recently went up for free on the app stores both for iOS and Android. The new photo editing application – FaceApp – presents new features that manipulate photos with accuracy making the photos look super realistic.
One feature of the App that caught the attention of millions of users was the feature where photos of people were ‘aged’.
Basically, a younger photo or a current photo of a person will be modified by the app and make him/her look older.
The app topped the ranks for the top free offers in both app stores last Wednesday. It was developed by Wireless Lab from St. Petersburg, Russia.
One Twitter user stated that the app was uploading a lot more data that the users are aware of. The New York Post also posted “Russians now own all your old photos” as their headline.
Concerned about the Apps possible threat to security, even the Democratic National Committee sent out an alert that urged members of the staff on Presidential campaigns to remove the application from their smartphones immediately, according to CNN. They also mentioned about the App’s ties with Russia.
On the other hand, French security researcher – specialist in smartphone apps, specifically ones that abuse user’s data – says the claims are exaggerated.
This is according to an article from ABS CBN News.
Baptiste Robert revealed the kind of information revealed the kind of information he is handing to the app:
“The info sent by the application was only my device model, my device ID and Android version, which is very limited information and is quite common for an application.”
That is all there is to it, at least for now. We’ll post updates as soon as we got them.