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QINGDAO TODAY
在线翻译:
szdaily -> China -> 
Face-swapping app asked to protect users’ info
    2019-09-05  08:53    Shenzhen Daily

THE top information watchdog said yesterday that it has required a Beijing-based technology company to rectify and strengthen the protection of users’ personal information after the company’s AI-powered face-changing app triggered concerns over possible abuse of users’ images and privacy.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on Tuesday required Beijing-based Momo Technology Company to collect and use users’ personal information in accordance with laws. It also requested the company standardize the app’s terms-of-use agreement, and strengthen its security to better protect users’ personal information.

The ministry also demanded the company further improve its assessment of safety issues of its new technologies and new businesses, and take effective measures to actively prevent its apps from being used for telecom fraud.

The AI-powered face changing app ZAO apologized Tuesday for controversies caused by its user agreement and pledged to modify its terms so the app will no longer store personal facial recognition information.

The app allows users to upload their selfies and swap their faces with celebrities in video clips from films and television dramas. It gained popularity over the weekend, but the app’s original user agreement sparked concerns over how their personal data is being used. Some suggested that criminals could find ways to use the facial recognition data to commit fraud.

A key concern in the user agreement was a clause that allowed ZAO to store and use users’ data without payment around the world. The user agreement could not be revoked and had no end date. The company also had the right to sublicense and re-permission the data, which was not limited to a users’ portraits, pictures, videos, and their edited versions.

ZAO said Tuesday that if users delete information or cancel their accounts, the app will delete the users’ information as required by regulations and rules.

In response to some users’ worries that the app could be misused by criminals to access their online payment accounts by scanning their faces, ZAO stressed the app cannot be used in such a manner.

“The face-swapping presented in the video is not your true information, although it looks similar. We don’t collect any personal biological information,” reads the statement.

This is the second time that ZAO has revised its terms-of-use agreement.

On Sunday, the app deleted some items in its user agreement, including the stipulation that subscribers’ portraits could be freely used without payment by the app and such permission could never be revoked. The revised agreement also stressed that the agreement is only applicable to face-swapping and will not be used for other purposes. (Global Times)

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