(Video) Rajya Sabha TV (RSTV) The Big Picture: Data & Privacy: How Safe Are Apps?

Topic: Data & Privacy: How Safe Are Apps?

Guest:

Subi Chaturvedi, (Distinguished Public Policy Professional)
Karnika Seth, (Cyber Law Expert)
Subimal Bhattacharjee, (Cyber Security Expert)

Topic Description:

Faceapp, an image-editing app has caught the imagination of everyone from New York to Sydney; from Brussels to Chennai and beyond. There are millions of people, including several in India, who are transforming their current photo, using the apps age filter to see what they will look like when they are old. And these people are also sharing these photos on social media. The problem, however, is that just with any other app that uses personal data such as a photo, there are privacy concerns around FaceApp. A number of people have raised concerns, including a US senator who wants the app investigated by the FBI for possible data misuse. The primary issue seems to be a clause in the terms and conditions of FaceApp. This clause says users give FaceApp "a perpetual, irrevocable, nonexclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, fully-paid, transferable sub-licensable license" to use photos they upload. Similar fears were raised when the trend of #10yearchallenge went viral on Facebook in January this year. In this people uploaded their photos from 10 years earlier to show how they changed.