FACE OF THE FUTURE
Smartphone app lets you see yourself years from now
IT’S the smartphone app that has become a global sensation by giving users a startling glimpse into their future.
Now the FaceApp craze, which uses technology to show you what you will apparently look like decades from now, has reached the world of celebrity.
Stars including chef Gordon Ramsay, 52, Friends actress Courteney Cox, 55, and broadcaster Jeremy Vine, 54, have all shared photos of their aged-up selves – complete with wrinkles, saggy jowls and liver spots.
Others to submit themselves to the unforgiving process include singer Sam Smith, 27, supermodel Heidi Klum, 46, journalist Piers Morgan, 54, and US pop band The Jonas Brothers.
The Russia-based app allows users to input a photo of themselves which is then digitally altered to show what they will look like when they are significantly older.
It also allows users to take years off a photo, although this may have less appeal given that they knew what they looked like back then.
The craze follows on from the ‘tenyear challenge’ which swept the internet earlier this year, where celebrities posted photos from 2009 to show how well – or not – they had aged in the intervening decade.
But while FaceApp might seem fun, the UK’s data watchdog is investigating potential privacy issues. The app asks users whether they would like to allow access to the entire camera roll on their smartphone.
The Information Commissioner’s Office said: ‘We are aware of stories raising concerns about FaceApp and will be considering them.’
FaceApp said it does not sell or share any user data with third parties and most images are deleted from their servers within 48 hours.
‘Wrinkles and saggy jowls’