Surely you saw your friends faces on Facebook and Instagram with a distinctly Japanese look like they were manga characters. You can thank Meitu, an iOS and Android app that got famous in a short period. It’s free to download, and you can apply several filters to your selfie, adding manga-like big eyes and so forth. This app is the talk of the town not only because it’s trending, but also for its privacy implications.
Some online security experts look into Meitu, finding that to work properly, the app requested access to an enormous variety of private data from users: apart from a (logical) access to camera, we have GPS localization, carrier information, Wi-Fi connection, details on the SIM card, if the device has been jailbreak or not, and a whole lot of other personal data to track users across the web. A stunning amount of data, if you think that it’s a simple app to edit your selfies.
Other analysts, like Verify.ly’s Will Strafach, Meitu request access to a lot of personal information, but nothing special here. But Jonathan Zdziarski, iOS security expert, stated:
I could spend days analyzing this code. It’s mostly par for the course junk. I didn’t see anything overtly evil, but that doesn’t mean there’s not something more serious in there. The thing [that’s noteworthy] is the number of different analytics and ad tracking packages they’ve loaded into the app. I counted at least half a dozen different packages in there. You don’t need that many unless you’re selling data.
A spokesperson for Meitu stated that the app takes advantage of a strong partnership with Google Play, partaking the famous Sand Hill program, focused on viral projects. Meitu’s policy terms say that users data sharing to third-party are limited. Collected info are in fact those pointed out by security experts, but according to Meitu’s spokesperson the app uses them just as a performances enhancer, and offer better ads to users.
So what we have to do with Meitu? We can use it, or it’s better we delete Meitu from our devices? It all boils down to your privacy: if adding some manga-eyes to your selfie is more important, go for it.