As we've mentioned already, the two-year-old FaceApp is currently seeing a resurgence in popularity.
You've also probably heard how FaceApp gains access to your data, and it's an invasion of your privacy. But have you stopped to consider that's already happened?
(L) Reuters (R) FaceApp
FaceApp has already been downloaded over a 100 million times on Android, and probably as many times on iOS. What a lot of these people don't realise is that, when you use the app, you give them access to any content you submit, meaning your photos. And according to the privacy policy, they also gather: things like your IP address, cookies for ads, browser type, phone model, and much more.
And according their terms of service, you're giving FaceApp "perpetual, irrevocable, nonexclusive, royalty-free" access to those photos. If that seems like a major invasion of privacy to you, it is. It's just up to you whether you don't mind some Russian company having your picture.
The thing is, a lot of people will be taken aback by these reports. Which is ludicrous, because it somehow implies your other apps and services aren't just as loose with your privacy.
Take Facebook for instance. Most of you have been on the platform for years. And even though?#DeleteFacebook?gained quite a bit of steam, many of you ignored it because Facebook lets you stalk old friends, keep in touch with family, and even get a job.
But think about the sheer number of incidents of privacy failings that have occurred on the part of the company over the past couple of years. The Cambridge Analytica controversy showed just how lax Facebook is with A LOT of your personal data. It also revealed, to the people that didn't already know, that free platforms like theirs earn revenue by marketing their users. This means having access to all kinds of personal data from you.
Since then there have been hacks, security flaws, and more, across Facebook and its other properties, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp.
But ok, those are services you signed up for. Maybe you knew the risks going in. However, let's not ignore the service you were mandated to sign up to: the Aadhaar identification system.
We were forced to apply for Aadhaar cards for everything from bank accounts, to mobile numbers to applying for government IDs and certificates. And in the process, we had to fork over not just all our personal details and photo, but also our biometric signature. And then, many of us also caved in when it was mandated for banks and had it linked to our salary accounts too.
To make matters worse, there have been numerous reports of how lax the system's security is, regardless of claims of your data being safe behind a "13 feet high, 5 feet thick wall" (lol wut?). We've seen breaches of the app, fake IDs being created, contractors left with open access to the database, and more.
At least Facebook has been held accountable to an extent and has to up its security. In India however, there's been zero mention of any beefing up of the platforms cybersecurity. It's already secure after all right? The white hat hackers exposing its weaknesses are lying right?
If FaceApp directly misuses your data, or hackers cracks into their servers, they can potentially really mess with your life. More so with Facebook, since it has so much identifying data and more. But if hackers get a hold of your Aadhaar data, it can potentially risk your identity.?
So while you should be worried about FaceApp's privacy cesspool, maybe look at the bright side because it's not the first time your private data has been compromised.