Careful what you click – FaceApp is all the rage, but should we be more careful with what we share?

You can’t avoid it…just about everywhere you venture this week on social media, you’ll see friends, family members and even celebrities posting pics of what they’ll supposedly look like as they age gracefully into the future. It’s done with a new downloadable app, FaceApp, and it seems harmless enough until you read the fine print.

“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

For the more than 100 million people who have already used FaceApp, there are a few questions to be asked:

• Is this standard for downloadable apps or are these terms a new trend?
• What could FaceApp actually use this data for and what value does it hold?
• What are the concerns about privacy and protection of personal information?
• Is there a real reason to worry and can lawmakers take any recourse?

If you are a reporter looking to learn more about FaceApp and data protection – let our experts help.

Sarah Rees is the director of Augusta University’s Cyber Workforce Academy and she is an expert in the areas of cyber security and information protection. She’s available to speak to media regarding FaceApp – simply click on her icon to arrange an interview.