So, the news about FaceApp, a mobile app created by Russian company was gaining popularity of late and, inevitably, some security researcher took it upon himself to make a bunch of statements about company’s misuse of user data. Specifically, implying that the app getting access to all the photos on the users’ phones, uploading those to the company servers and they are free to do with those as thy would.
Whole thing ended-up fizzling out from technology point of view, after somewhat more serious people looked closely and did not find any indication of abuse intentional or otherwise in the application’s behavior: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-7260463/Faceapp-access-camera-roll.html
Meanwhile, the “Russians are coming” scaled-up to the highest levels of our veritable government, with FBI being called to investigate the app and its makers: https://time.com/5629011/face-app-aging-schumer-ftc/
But now, with the likes of Forbes printing: “To make FaceApp actually work, you have to give it permissions to access your photos - ALL of them. But it also gains access to Siri and Search .... Oh, and it has access to refreshing in the background - so even when you are not using it, it is using you.” The question really is about potential damages to the company caused by the trigger-happy publishers that are rapidly degenerating reporting by excluding verification from the process.
I have seen, with some dismay, how the Kaspersky Labs got sanctioned out good chunk of market despite any published evidence of wrongdoing.
I hope the Veeam will not get the same treatment one day, just because they were founded in Russia.
With political climate between major players in international affairs getting progressively more sour, perhaps we can at least demand some due diligence from the press, as well as our lawmakers, before they drag something they have read on the ride to work for others to reprint and to perpetuate the mistrust and suspicion.
God knows, there is enough valid reasons for those.
