Warning to millions using viral selfie app Lensa AI on iPhone or Android

YOU may have noticed that people have been posting quirky avatar selfies on social media lately, as have the odd celebrity.

All thanks to the latest trend, Lensa AI, a new app that transforms your photos into a magical artistic style.

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Chance the rapper and Sam Asghari, husband of Britney Spears, are among the big names who have tried.

However, users have been warned to pay close attention to the terms and conditions as the app’s maker can “distribute” the end result.

In a lengthy document available online, developer Prisma Labs says it will only do this for “the purpose of operating or improving Lensa”.

The long line explains that by using the app, the company can “reproduce”, “modify” and “distribute” your images “without additional compensation to you”.

It’s actually common for similar services to post conditions for so long.

ESET cybersecurity expert Jake Moore said so MailOnline: “By using Lensa, you grant permission to own the generated photo, which will be placed in a database along with possibly other identifiable information.

“With Lensa, it also seems that users consent to their generated images being shared with third parties, which people often don’t realize is a problem.

“Cyber ​​criminals actively seek such information for illegal use.

“These databases contain valuable information that could potentially be used in conjunction with facial recognition technology, raising concerns about data theft.”

The full line in the Terms reads: “Solely for the purpose of operating or improving Lensa, you grant us a perpetual, irrevocable, nonexclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, fully-paid, transferable, sublicensable license to use, reproduce, modify your User Content , distribute, create derivative works from, without additional compensation to you and always subject to your additional express consent for such use as required by applicable law and as disclosed in our Privacy Policy (the “Company License”).

Corresponding WiredAndrey Usoltsev, CEO and co-founder of Prisma Labs said that an updated privacy policy is being worked on.

“Users’ photos will be deleted from our servers once the avatars are created,” he said.

“The servers are in the US.”

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