It’s the internet. I don’t expect anyone to agree with me.

My FaceApp research analysis took the better part of Wednesday night into Thursday morning. I’ve covered some of the criticism in my original post.

Here are some others.

Ivan Drago

Not everyone in Russia reports to the Kremlin. Just ask Pussy Riot. You have no control over where you were born or the type of government you were born into. Developers there have little recourse with government intervention. Same in China and Saudi Arabia. Even here in the United States if something falls under national security, it would be very hard for me to argue against it in court under Federal law.

The software FaceApp is collects biometric data points that can be used for government surveillance. It’s not far fetched to say the All-Russia People’s Front (Putin’s Party) would use this programming to track its citizens. Their neighbor and ally China leads the world in building this type of database. Even if FaceApp had no ties to the Russian government, this week’s rise in coverage, definitely put them in an unwanted spotlight.

American Exceptionalism

Comparing US surveillance to that in China, Saudi Arabia, or even Israel is disingenuous. Post September 11th, America became much more aggressive. New powers were granted to the NSA putting telecoms in their cross-hairs. More surveillance doesn’t make us safer citation, collecting the right amount of micro data, and minimizing human error, does.

Clout

Or clickbait. Or posting something to get famous. Have. You. Met. Me? I’ve been online since dial-up. I still cry over Geocities shutting down. I post things to share and connect with people I have no chance of meeting in real life. To share the things I create. To have a hobby because my brain needs a break from C#.

For work, my name means something.

“Call, Sarah. Get Ramsingh on the phone. Where is she?”

I’m not trading my reputation for anything. When I give a presentation, you know what you’re getting. Just the facts, ma’am. Straight, no chaser. My posts are public and under my real name. That holds accountability. The accusation that I wasn’t going to provide the research was most likely from someone outside STEM. Cybersecurity analysis can take time. The 24 hour turn around came from working all night and into the next morning.

It’s Your Data and You Can Cry If You Want To

I still see athletes using FaceApp. For the majority, mobile software is mindless fun. It’s not about training a set of code to map your face. Instagram has horoscope filters. Who cares if they’re building products to play to you internal psychological weakness. citation

You will continue to forfeit your privacy because, in fairness, the age of distraction hasn’t even started yet. You haven’t entered a world where you’re completely immersed in holograms and 3D content marketing. When your conversations with Google Home become more intimate, she’ll turn on Stadia for you to relax.

You are a weak human. You want the dopamine rush. You crave the escapism. Every programmer knows it and we’re writing heroine to satisfy you.

“I’ll just go outside,” he said. Taking his phone with him.

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