An application that uses artificial intelligence is gaining popularity among Internet users in Quebec, but it’s far from without risk to personal data.
• Also read: Cheated and neglected by his bank: BMO denied him access to his own money for 37 days
• Also read: Cyber Attacks: National Defense awarded $1 million to Concordia University
Launched in 2018 and hosted in Russia, the Lensa application last November featured the Magic Avatar feature, which lets you upload 10 to 20 portraits, and artificial intelligence retouches “facial imperfections” to help your photos “take it to the next level.” .
For $5, the application gives you 50 portraits of you as an avatar – 5 variations of 10 different styles – apparently created by digital artists.
Photo from Benoît Vermette’s Facebook page
“I saw several people wearing it around me and said to myself… why not!” said Benoît Vermette, a freelance photographer living in the Montreal area, who said he’s not worried about his data right now.
According to app data analytics company Sensor Tower, the app was downloaded 1.6 million times worldwide in November, up 631% from October.
Be careful
The tool is interesting, but the terms of use of the application raise many eyebrows, according to the website specialized in the field of mashable technology.
Although Prisma, the company that powers the app, states that it “does not use the photos you provide for any reason other than to apply various filters or stylized effects to them,” the company does not store personal information for a set period of time in specified in the privacy policy.
“Anything that has to do with the collection of biometric data is data that can be used by state actors or criminal organizations that can try to impersonate us, or as part of other programs,” explains cybersecurity expert Luc Lefebvre.
Because the app is hosted in Russia, it’s difficult to legislate against it. “However, it is certain that if we are to adopt best practices, especially with Law 25 passed last September, it is obvious that there should be warnings preventing the collection of their personal information or sensitive data related to their private life explain ,” he added.
Prisma defended itself, telling another technology site, TechCrunch, that it uses Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud computing services to process its users’ photos. She claimed that she immediately deletes the provided images after the images are trained by the AI.
– Featuring information from TechCrunch and Mashable