Ben Gilbert/Business Insider/FaceApp
- FaceApp has exploded in popularity in the last week, largely due to its ability to make users look old with eerie precision.
- Celebrities, influencers, and tens of millions of other people are suddenly using the app - and in the process, those users are allowing FaceApp to access their photo libraries and camera.
- The app is facing scrutiny from critics and politicians, who say people should be wary of its origins in Russia.
- This may be true, but it's missing a much bigger point: If you're using Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, TikTok, or many other services, you've already given over access to much, much more of your data.
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FaceApp is suddenly everywhere. Everyone from your college roommate to your Uncle Rufus is posting photos of themselves looking decades older than they are, and you want to get in on the fun.
So maybe you google "FaceApp," and that's when you get wary.
Story after story about FaceApp describes how it could be a major security risk. You're just going to give this random app access to all your data? To your phone's camera?! And it's made by a Russian company! Russia, as we all know, is out to get you.
Some of that may be true, but the reality is that anyone using Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok, Twitter, or any of the dozens of other services that billions of people have signed up for are just as likely to misuse your data.
