PSA: Think twice before downloading this app that could cost Apple and Google millions

Judge in Brazil has now fined Apple and Google for distributionin their respective app stores FaceApp: An app that doesn’t seem to care about user privacy.

A few years ago, FaceApp took the internet by storm in interesting and slightly creepy ways using artificial intelligence to help you age or change your hair color without having to do it in real life. Yours truly, you could also experiment with it by mixing photos of different celebrities to see what their potential offspring would look like (yes, that used to be a feature too).

FaceApp can manipulate faces and let you radically alter photos, from changing skin tone and hair color to increasing your age by 20 years or more. But this has long been a state secret, that the application blatantly steals user data exploiting loopholes in legal contracts.

The violation of user privacy (even though the user’s consent was obtained, but under false pretenses) has made regulators in Brazil frown. Judge Douglas de Melo Martins said Brazilian law prohibits the bulk and inappropriate collection of personal data without consent. In fact, it’s not the misleading language of the app’s terms… it’s the lack of translation of these terms into Portuguese.

The fact is that Brazilian users cannot provide informed consent to Terms of Service that they do not understand in their language. And that will likely ensure that this fine will remain in place despite potential appeals. To be honest, the English version is also not very clear, but that is not the issue here.

Regulators effectively hold Apple and Google responsible for FaceApp’s operation. Right now, both companies could face a fine of about $82 per person who has downloaded and used FaceApp since June 2020. And this amount can amount to millions of dollars.

As usual in such situations, appeals from Google and Apple are likely – large technology companies quite often try to mitigate fines by appealing the court’s decision.

The FaceApp fiasco in Brazil isn’t just about one app playing fast and loose with user data. It sheds light on a larger question: Should Apple and Google be held accountable for the dubious apps they allow freely on their digital playgrounds? .

It’s not like this is the first time we’ve heard of apps behaving badly, but when governments start pointing the finger at app store bosses, things get interesting.

If Apple and Google end up having to pay millions in fines, it could open the floodgates to similar cases around the world.