FBI classifies FaceApp as threat

The FBI has classified FaceApp as a counterintelligence threat due to its ties to Russia, with the FBI emphasizing that it will take action if it assesses the face-editing app is involved in election interference efforts.

In a letter sent to Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Nov. 25 that was made public on Monday, Jill Tyson, the assistant director of the FBI’s Office of Congressional Affairs, wrote that given that the company that develops FaceApp is based in St. Petersburg, Russia, certain intelligence concerns were raised.

“The FBI considers any mobile application or similar product developed in Russia, such as FaceApp, to be a potential counterintelligence threat, based on the data the product collects, its privacy and terms of use policies, and the legal mechanisms available to the Government of Russia that permit access to data within Russia’s borders,” Tyson wrote.

In classifying FaceApp as a threat, Tyson pointed to the ability of the Russian Federal Security Service to “remotely access all communications and servers on Russian networks without making a request to [internet service providers].”

FaceApp involves the use of consumer data, including the uploading of a photo to manipulate. Tyson wrote that FaceApp uploads these photos to cloud servers in the United States, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand, and that the organization has previously claimed that it deletes photos from its servers within 48 hours of them being uploaded.

Due to concerns around Russian efforts to interfere in U.S. elections in 2016, Tyson emphasized that if FaceApp was found to be interfering with future U.S. elections in any way, the agency would take action.