Avast Blog Threat Reseach: Is FaceApp safe? Clearing up confusion about the viral app

[harlan4096]

Pop stars, athletes, and millions of others posted photos of themselves edited with the app – but what are the much-publicized privacy risks?

FaceApp can make your face look old – but does it also invade your privacy? In the past week photos from the app – and fears about cybersecurity issues – have swirled through social media with more distortions than clarity.

The 2017 app lets users edit photos to make themselves look older – or younger, or like a person of another gender – sometimes with hilarious effects. Pop stars have used it to suddenly look like senior citizens. Professional athletes are making themselves unrecognizable. It’s suddenly very popular to take the “FaceApp challenge,” as some have called posting the app’s photos. Although the app isn’t new, its rediscovery seems to be a major fad of the summer of 2019.

App stores seem to endorse the app. Google’s Play Store touts the Android app – with 1.5 million downloads – as an Editors’ Choice. Apple’s App Store, which doesn’t show the number of downloads, shows a rating of 4.8 out of 5 from 714K users.

Then on Wednesday, a Democratic Party leader, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, posted this alarming message to 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.”

The Democratic National Committee – which was hacked in 2015-2016 by Russian cybercriminals – warned its more than 20 presidential candidates to avoid the app in a letter on Wednesday, CNN reported. 

Continue Reading