A warning has been issued to over a new popular picture editing app that is said to be allegedly 'sending people's data to Russia '. The latest trend sees users updating their profile picture to a hand-drawn image of themselves that the app, called New Profile Pic, has edited for them for free by an AI.
The app uses facial recognition technology to find key features on an image of your face uploaded to the servers and then creates an edited version with your likeness that can be shared online. However, many of the hundreds of thousands of Facebook users who have already used the app are unaware that by doing this their information is being sent to a company registered in Moscow, Wales Online reports.
MailOnline says the company behind the app, Linerock Investments, is based next to Russia's Ministry of Defence, three miles outside Red Square. According to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists Offshore Leaks database, Linerock is registered in Moscow and has a Russian director.
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Jake Moore, Global Cybersecurity Advisor, ESET Internet Security told MailOnline: "This app is likely a way of capturing people's faces in high resolution and I would question any app wanting this amount of data, especially one which is largely unheard of and based in another country."
The New Profile Pic app, which was launched in May, can be downloaded onto your mobile phone and allows the sending of data including your location and access to other social media images on your news feeds.
The app's data policy states "we collect certain personal information that you voluntarily provide to us" and says "we collect your name, email address, user name, social network information and other information you provide when you register."
A spokesperson for the app told MailOnline: "We are a BVI company with development offices in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus," and said they do not share any user information in a way that is not listed in their privacy policy.
MailOnline approached Apple, Google and Linerock Investments Ltd for a comment. The Manchester Evening News has contacted Facebook for a comment.
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