The Russia-based app is at the heart of the latest viral challenge as it encourages users to upload pictures of themselves. But the app is keeping the selfies of its users, according to its privacy policy. Mr Schumer said in a letter to the intelligence agencies said the app poses “national security and privacy risks for millions of US citizens”.
He added: “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 governments.”
It is not clear how the AI application retains the data of users or how users may ensure the deletion of their data after usage, Mr Schumer said.
Mr Schumer said the photo editing app’s location in Russia raises questions about how FaceApp lets third parties, including foreign governments, have access to the data of American citizens.
In a statement cited by media outlets, FaceApp has denied selling or sharing user data with third parties.
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In a statement cited by TechCrunch, the company said: “99 percent of users don’t log in; therefore, we don’t have access to any data that could identify a person.”
It added that most images are deleted from its servers within 48 hours of the upload date.
While the company’s research and development team is located in Russia, the user data is not transferred to Russia, according to the statement.
FaceApp’s website says it has over 80 million active users.
FaceApp’s website promotes the app by saying: “Transform your face using Artificial Intelligence with just one tap,” showing photos with changes in users’ appearances.
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has warned its 2020 presidential candidates against using the app, CNN reported.
DNC’s chief security officer, Bob Lord, said: “This app allows users to perform different transformations on photos of people, such as aging the person in the picture.
“Unfortunately, this novelty is not without risk: FaceApp was developed by Russians.
“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.
“If you or any of your staff have already used the app, we recommend that they delete the app immediately.”