The ZAO Chinese deepfake application is terrifying

OPINION: "China", "Deepfake" and "Confidentiality" are three of the most controversial themes of 2019. Now, these three themes are perfectly grouped in one and the same application.

ZAO is a new application from China that allows users to create deepfake videos in seconds. The app was launched last Friday and its immediate popularity has seen it dominate the Chinese download charts.

The application asks users to download a series of selfies where they repeat basic facial movements such as blinking, moving the mouth and expressing several other emotions.

Once the app has these videos, it can realistically superimpose a user's face to scenes of TV shows and movies.

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The results are as realistic as scary.

Equally terrifying was the application's privacy policy which initially stipulated that any downloaded content granted Momo, the company that had developed it, free, irrevocable, permanent, transferable and releasable "rights" user-generated content ".

Since then, the ZAO application has issued the following statement: "We understand the concerns about confidentiality.We have received feedback and we will solve the problems that we had not taken into account, which would take some time."

Deepfake videos are not new. In June, an intimidating video of Mark Zuckerberg, based on the fool film, appeared, where his nicknamed face relayed the following paralyzing monologue:

"Imagine this for a second: a man, with total control of data stolen by billions of people, all their secrets, their life, their future, I owe it to Specter." Specter showed me whoever controls the data controls the future. "

Applications that force users to voluntarily download images of their faces are also non-original. Earlier in the year, FaceApp, the Russian company, was ahead of the global download, although its users are required to transmit close-up HD images of their faces.

Since the use of controversial face recognition software is increasing in the world, users may want to be cautious before forwarding personal data – which, in this case, would be images of their face. No matter how good the application.