Improving personal data protection awareness necessary when 'swapping' faces online: survey

BEIJING - More than 93 percent of people interviewed in a survey think it is necessary to raise awareness of the need to protect personal information when using face swap apps, China Youth Daily reported Thursday.

A face swap mobile app recently became popular among young Chinese, on which users can upload their photos and "swap" their faces with stars using artificial intelligence technology. The app was alleged to have infringed on users' privacy rights.

The survey was done by the newspaper among 2,003 people. About 62 percent of the respondents had used the app, most of whom were born after 1990, according to the survey.

Only 31 percent of the respondents worried about excessive collection of personal information by the app, while about 54 percent said they would continue to use it despite such concerns.

"With apps like this, it's easy to become immersed in the experience, and you quickly forget about privacy concerns," a sophomore under the pseudonym of Lin Nuo was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

Data leakage is another problem identified. Users of the face swap app are most concerned about the security of their biometric data like facial features, followed by their social network accounts, mobile phone numbers, photos and ID cards, according to the survey.

To address such concerns, more than 76 percent of those surveyed suggested improving related laws and regulations to safeguard netizens' right to protect their personal data, while 42 percent suggested penalties for app operators that excessively collect or disclose users' information.