If you’re even a random Facebook user, then you’ve likely seen someone on your friends list post an artsy-looking avatar of themselves after using the New Profile Pic app. Yeah, the free app is a hit with users, but that doesn’t mean it might not cost you anything. Warnings have been issued that the app came out of Russia, through a company called Linelock Investments.
They’re offices are based in an apartment complex with a view of the Moscow River…next door to the Russian Ministry of Defense. Sure, they’ve changed their address to Florida…but still. And not only does the app ask for a high-resolution picture of your face, but the amount of data it requests access to during the sign-up process is “questionable,” according to experts in the field. Still, it makes you look cool, so many people will still say “my data’s already out there anyway, so what the hell.”