Top Democrat urges FBI and FTC to investigate FaceApp over its Russia ties

Chuck Schumer

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wrote a letter to the FBI and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) expressing his "concerns" over the popular FaceApp app that has proliferated across social media channels.
Schumer's scrutiny over the app stems from its origins in Russia; he believes its use by Americans "could pose national security and privacy risks for millions of US citizens."
"It would be deeply troubling if the sensitive personal information of US citizens was provided to a hostile foreign power actively engaged in cyber hostilities against the United States," Schumer said in the letter.
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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wrote a letter to the FBI and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) expressing his "concerns" over the popular FaceApp app that has proliferated across social media channels.

Schumer's scrutiny over the app stems from its origins in Russia; he believes its use by Americans "could pose national security and privacy risks for millions of US citizens."

"FaceApp's location in Russia raises questions regarding how and when the company provides access to the data of US citizens to third parties, including potentially foreign government," Schumer said, adding that "Russia remains a significant counterintelligence threat."

"It would be deeply troubling if the sensitive personal information of US citizens was provided to a hostile foreign power actively engaged in cyber hostilities against the United States," the letter added.

The Democrat urged the FBI to assess whether the data and images used by the app could find "its way into the hands of the Russian government." Separately, Schumer asked the FTC to see whether there were "adequate safeguards" to protect users' privacy.

"In the age of facial recognition technology as both a surveillance and security use, it is essential that users have the information they need to ensure their personal and biometric data remains secure, including from hostile foreign nations," Schumer said in the letter.

FaceApp, an AI-powered photo editing application, makes a user look older or younger using their photos. The Russian-developed application was released in 2017, and became widely used after social media influencers began uploading photos of themselves. It was the most popular free app in the Apple Store and Google Play as of Wednesday afternoon.

According to FaceApp's terms of service, users grant the company permission for it use their voice, name, photos, and other data for commercial purposes in perpetuity — even after users delete the app.

The company claims none of its data is currently "transferred to Russia" and that it does not "sell or share any user data with third parties," according to TechCrunch. FaceApp's privacy policy claims it "will not rent or sell your information" to a third party without a user's consent.

On Wednesday, the Democratic National Committee issued warnings to the 2020 Democratic candidates about the app and urged them not to use it.

"If you or any of your staff have already used the app, we recommend that they delete the app immediately," the committee's chief security officer said in the alert, according to CNN.

"It's not clear at this point what the privacy risks are, but what is clear is that the benefits of avoiding the app outweigh the risks," DNC chief security officer Bob Lord reportedly said.

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