MANY humans and (rock) apes share similar traits, especially
when it comes to mobile phones (and their apps), where they simply just don't
get it.
On the physical side of things some humans have progressed,
where they did learn that pressing a screen harder with their index finger 35
times will not achieve the desired result.
At another level, taking things at face value (pun intended)
there is a LOT to be desired from these creatures.
They are enchanted or amused at a 'simple' (by computing
standards) picture altering program, without looking past (i.e. reading the
terms and conditions) this superficial function or distraction.
Governments are pushing biometrics on mobile devices for 'security' purposes, but their use (and those mobile devices) is anything but that.
Governments are pushing biometrics on mobile devices for 'security' purposes, but their use (and those mobile devices) is anything but that.
The producers of FaceApp, a mobile phone program that transforms your face to a younger or older version
are using this data to cause you harm, either instantaneously or at some point
in the future, where the best part about it is that they 'own' your face (i.e. that data).
We do not recommend the use of FaceApp.
See article from 18 Jul 2019 by Forbes of the headline:
Composite image of a diverse group of people. Getty
And we thought we learned a lesson from Cambridge Analytica.
More than 100,000 million people have downloaded the app from Google Play. And FaceApp is now the top-ranked app on the iOS App Store in 121 countries, according to App Annie.
While according to FaceApp's terms of service people still own their own "user content" (read: face), the company owns a never-ending and irrevocable royalty-free license to do anything they want with it ... in front of whoever they wish:
|That may not be dangerous and your likeness may stay on Amazon servers in America, as Forbes has determined, but they still own a license to do whatever they want with it. That doesn't mean the app's Russian parent company, Wireless Labs, will offer your face to the FSB, but it does have consequences, as PhoneArena's Peter Kostadinov says:
Whether that matters to you or not is your decision.
But what we have learned in the past few years about viral Facebook apps is that the data they collect is not always used for the purposes that we might assume. And, that the data collected is not always stored securely, safely, privately.
Once something is uploaded to the cloud, you've lost control whether or not you've given away legal license to your content. That's one reason why privacy-sensitive Apple is doing most of its AI work on-device.
And it's a good reason to be wary when any app wants access and a license to your digital content and/or identity.
As former Rackspace manager Rob La Gesse mentioned today:
Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Check out my website or some of my other work here.
We do not recommend the use of FaceApp.
See article from 18 Jul 2019 by Forbes of the headline:
Viral App FaceApp Now Owns Access To More Than 150 Million People's Faces And Names
Everyone's seen them: friends posting pictures of themselves now, and years in the future.
Viral
app FaceApp has been giving people the power to change their facial
expressions, looks, and now age for several years. But at the same time,
people have been giving FaceApp the power to use their pictures — and
names — for any purpose it wishes, for as long as it desires.
And we thought we learned a lesson from Cambridge Analytica.
More than 100,000 million people have downloaded the app from Google Play. And FaceApp is now the top-ranked app on the iOS App Store in 121 countries, according to App Annie.
While according to FaceApp's terms of service people still own their own "user content" (read: face), the company owns a never-ending and irrevocable royalty-free license to do anything they want with it ... in front of whoever they wish:
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 and 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. When you post or otherwise share User Content on or through our Services, you understand that your User Content and any associated information (such as your [username], location or profile photo) will be visible to the public.
FaceApp terms of use
|That may not be dangerous and your likeness may stay on Amazon servers in America, as Forbes has determined, but they still own a license to do whatever they want with it. That doesn't mean the app's Russian parent company, Wireless Labs, will offer your face to the FSB, but it does have consequences, as PhoneArena's Peter Kostadinov says:
You might end up on a billboard somewhere in Moscow, but your face will most likely end up training some AI facial-recognition algorithm. Peter Kostadinov
Whether that matters to you or not is your decision.
But what we have learned in the past few years about viral Facebook apps is that the data they collect is not always used for the purposes that we might assume. And, that the data collected is not always stored securely, safely, privately.
Once something is uploaded to the cloud, you've lost control whether or not you've given away legal license to your content. That's one reason why privacy-sensitive Apple is doing most of its AI work on-device.
And it's a good reason to be wary when any app wants access and a license to your digital content and/or identity.
As former Rackspace manager Rob La Gesse mentioned today:
To make FaceApp actually work, you have to give it permissions to access your photos - ALL of them. But it also gains access to Siri and Search .... Oh, and it has access to refreshing in the background - so even when you are not using it, it is using you.The app doesn't have to be doing anything nefarious today to make you cautious about giving it that much access to your most personal computing device.
Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Check out my website or some of my other work here.
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