BEIJING — A face-swapping app that allows users to become their favorite celebrities is blowing up in China.<br /><br />The app is called Zao and it allows users to submit a selfie of their choice after which the app superimposes their face onto film stars like Leonardo DiCaprio or onto characters from TV shows such as Game of Thrones. <br /><br />The app transforms the user's face by blending their features with the celebrities' features and placing it into original film clips that are around five to 10 seconds in length.<br /><br />Just two days after the app was released, netizens in China noticed that a clause in the app allowed it to keep user images and potentially sell them to third parties without any consent from the user.<br /><br />One user commented on Weibo: "Why is an app restricting us on our rights to our own selfies?"<br /><br />Another user commented saying that: "Don't you dare take my images and use them for anything! What a terrible app!"<br /><br />A third said: "The app is fun and interesting, but you should improve user security because it is really worrisome."<br /><br />The controversial clause has since been removed from the app's terms of service.<br /><br />Momo, the company behind Zao, released a statement saying the app will not store user images, and explained that users are not at risk of identity theft if they use the app.<br /><br />The company explained that they present a virtual image of a person and don't collect anyone's biometric data or features for facial recognition.<br /><br />Zao said it would allow users to delete images that were previous uploaded onto its platform.<br /><br />However, some users were quick to point out that Zao didn't mention what would happen to images that were previously stored on the app's server.
