Factsheet: What are the risks of face swapping applications to data privacy?

Face-swapping applications have become popular in the recent years as users enjoy the endless possibilities presented by the artificial intelligence assisted applications. Whilst to many, this may seem to be harmless fun, there have been concerns over data privacy, identity theft and the threat of disinformation.

The applications allow users to swap out their faces with well-known people (celebrities), put their face in a premade video, or swap faces with friends. They also present users with the possibility of imagining what they would look like if they were older, younger and even what their babies would look like.

This factsheet outlines the dangers posed by reckless use of face-changing applications:

How intrusive are face swapping applications?

Research has shown that most applications subliminally collect the following data:

Phone contacts
Credit/debit card information
Device camera and photo gallery access
Information from linked social media accounts that are public
Exact user location
All content generated using the app
Personally identifiable information (PII) like first and last name, address, and phone number
Usage data such as – popular app features, usage rate and patterns

N.B. Not all face swapping applications collect the data listed above

What can you do to protect your privacy?

The best way to keep face-transforming apps from collecting and retaining your data is simply not to use them. But there are ways to remain safe if you do choose to use one of these apps.

Be careful about what you download

Make sure the application comes from a trustworthy developer, do a quick internet search to have a better understanding of who they are.
Use official sources such as Google Play Store or the Apple App Store to download applications.
Check the application release date and user reviews as you can typically trust applications that have been around longer and have gone through several bug fixes, as well as a mix of positive and negative reviews.
When installing the application be weary of the permissions you give the application, some will require access to your gallery, contact list, location etc. It is wise to restrict permissions to sensitive data.

Read the terms of service and app permissions

Read the terms of service and privacy policy before you download anything or create an account. Many applications provide a link to read these documents before one signs up but if not, find them online.

Don’t allow face-swapping apps access to your social media

As a rule, you should prevent apps and services from accessing your social media accounts. When they ask you to sign in with Facebook, Twitter, or another profile, just sign up with an email address instead.

Keep your device’s Operating System up to date

Check for software updates regularly and get the latest version, phone company usually update their security features with each system update.

Popular face-swapping apps that have raised privacy concerns in the past

FaceApp: In 2019, there was an uproar over FaceApp when a user revealed that the app claimed a license to use users’ photos, names, usernames, and likeness for any purpose, including commercial purposes.

ZAO: ZAO went through similar controversy as FaceApp, also in 2019. The app’s user agreement terms gave it total and permanent rights to repurpose user-generated content as it saw fit.

Reface: The app came under fire for the same reasons as FaceApp and ZAO, granting itself a permanent license to use user photos. Reface has since stated it deletes uploaded photos from its Google Cloud platform within one hour of being uploaded.