The chart-topping Russian-made FaceApp, which allows users to see how they will look as they age, found itself in the eye of a political storm in the US Wednesday, with one senator urging an FBI investigation into its "national security and privacy risks".
A celebrity favorite, the app deploys artificial intelligence to modify users' photos, adding wrinkles or subtracting years from their faces.
On Wednesday, US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer sounded the alarm over FaceApp's Russian developer, calling for the FBI and the Federal Trade Commission to "look into the national security & privacy risks" connected to the application.
"FaceApp's location in Russia raises questions regarding how and when the company provides access to the data of US citizens to third parties, including potentially foreign governments," the New York senator said in a letter to the FBI.
"It would be deeply troubling if the sensitive personal information of US citizens was provided to a hostile foreign power actively engaged in cyber hostilities against the United States," he added.
Currently the most downloaded free app on Google Play with more than 100 million users, FaceApp was launched two years ago and went viral after its latest editing tool, an aging filter, sparked a flood of celebrity selfies.
Its developers, Wireless Lab, are based in the Skolkovo high-tech hub near Moscow, often called Russia's Silicon Valley -- a fact that has stirred concern within the US Democratic Party.
The Washington Post has reported that the Democratic National Committee has warned campaigners in the primaries ahead of the 2020 presidential election to "delete the app immediately."
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