Over the years, we’ve seen a multitude of trends hit our phone screens. Whether it’s a ‘cinnamon challenge’ or a ‘ten year challenge’, there’s always something new out there that we all want to be apart of.
Most of these ‘challenges’ are harmless, and some of them, like the ‘Ice Bucket Challenge’ assist in raising awareness or finances.
However, not all are as harmless as they seem at first.
A recent trend that’s been circulating the current social media circles is not necessarily as harmless as it may seem. That particular trend, is the age altering technology from FaceApp. For those who haven’t necessarily seen it in their newsfeed yet, essentially the user is required to upload a photo and FaceApp edits the image to make the user’s face look like their in their 70’s. You might have guessed it, but it went viral.
Users not only wanted to see what they’d look like in the next 30+ years, but wanted to show their friends. Now, everytime you log onto Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, someone you know is posting an image of their potential future self.
However, it was all fun and games until people started to take notice of the terms and conditions…
FaceApp’s terms and conditions state that they can utilise the image you upload, and essentially will have the right to do with it what they please. There have also been comments made about the app being able to access contacts, your location through GPS and a whole other stack of things.
Now, we’re not conspiracy investigators, we’re private investigators which is we’re evaluating it with as much factual information as we can. However, there are a lot of accusations being thrown around by some credited and uncredited people.
Over the last few years, multiple facial recognition apps have been targeted for their terms and conditions, as have multiple apps in general. But before downloading FaceApp, or any other facial recognition app, we recommend the following.
Do you Research.
Before you download anything, see what people are saying. Albeit through reviews, news articles or just a quick google search, make sure you look into the app you’re about to download, or purchase. Because many of them require card or bank details, and many have and potentially can take advantage of yours.
Read the terms and conditions.
‘But they’re so many pages!’ You know what’s worse than having to read the terms and conditions? Identity theft. You might find something in there that allows the app to use your
details, images, location or card details. So, if you’ve agreed to the T&C’s, and get scammed, you may never be able to get them back, because technically you agreed to it.
If you’re uncertain, don’t use it.
If there’s a slight part of you that feels like something dodgy is happening, it’s often best not to use that app. Don’t get caught up in it all, even if everyone else is doing it.
Before downloading the FaceApp, or any other facial recognition app, make sure you put your cautious cap on. When dealing with these new apps, you can never be too careful. So think about what you’re doing before you download it, and maybe use the best aging indicator (the mirror) instead.