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Privacy Issues?
Everyone is concerned about privacy these days. Over the last few months, we have found out that people are sitting in rooms listening to our conversations with Alexa. Amazon admitted that its employees listen to and review various samples of customer recordings as a way to improve their devices. I don’t think that should concern you, because they only listen to specific commands that you give Alexa, but regardless, events like these make us rightfully concerned about our privacy.
Cell phone carriers have also been caught selling much of our data, and Facebook was giving away a ton of our data without our permission. So people are rightfully sceptical about FaceApp, after all, it is own by a Russian company, so that can be scary.
Let Me Break It Down
FaceApp was created by Wireless Lab of St. Petersburg, Russia. Wireless Lab is a Russian company, which may cause you to be skeptical, but honestly, we download apps made from people in several countries all the time, the big issue is privacy.
Essentially, when you download FaceApp, you are agreeing to their terms of use. One of their terms of use essentially says that they own the rights to use the photos that you upload to their app for the purposes they deem necessary. For some people that might be concerning, but honestly, most of these security concerns are probably overblown, mostly because the company that made the app is a Russian company.
Cell phone carriers, Facebook, Amazon, and other companies honestly have, in my opinion, much larger breaches of privacy. If I upload a photo to FaceApp, it’s probably just a family photo, and in my opinion, I don’t see much they can do with a family photo. If you are a photographer and you make money on your photographs, maybe there is some way that FaceApp could use your information for evil, but in most cases, this isn’t a big deal.
Just An Opinion
Remember, this is just my opinion. To my knowledge, Google stores data that you make in searches, as many companies do, to make advertisements more relevant to you. Amazon readily admitted that they listen to the Alexa commands some customers give to their smart speakers, so they can improve their speakers. This means that your private conversation with Alexa may very well be listened to by someone. Honestly, even that probably isn’t a big deal. Should I really care that someone is listening to me ask Alexa how to make my favorite recipe? Should I really be concerned that someone is listening to me ask Alexa what the weather is like?
Honestly, I think these concerns are overblown, and many tech experts have come out and agreed with me.
I do wish more laws and regulations were in place to protects customers and their data. I want our laws to limit the data that can be tracked without our permission, and I don’t want tech companies to have the ability to hide this consent in a terms and condition book that is 500 pages long.
Still, for most of us in this world, FaceApp is just fine to use. The terms are not, in my opinion, more restricting or harmful to your privacy than using Facebook or other social media sites.
If you like my advice? Go ahead, see what you look like as an old person. See what you look like if you are young again, and see what you look like if you add that wonderful head of hair you’ve been missing!
But do your own research and make that choice for yourself!
Don’t forget to like us on Facebook, and leave a comment below if you have any thoughts or opinions of your own!