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Making ourselves look old with an app like FaceApp is so two years ago.

Most of us are feeling so haggard after this year of “unprecedented” events that we probably can’t bear the sight of ourselves looking old and worn.

So I guess it makes sense that the new face-changing app on the market makes us look like carefree little cherubs.

In case you haven’t seen the result of the latest viral face-swapping app, and in case you really do, Voilà AI Artist magically transforms your selfie into a Pixar-style animated character, renaissance painting, and/or 2D cartoons:

CNET has all the steps for how to download the Voila AI Artist app if you fancy giving yourself an inner glow and supersized eyes.

But we will touch on more about the app’s privacy policy and how it uses your data.

As we learned from the FaceApp uproar, the privacy of your data when using these kinds of viral photo apps can be at risk and could potentially cause some unwelcome consequences.

Although privacy concerns when using these apps are often overblown, it doesn’t hurt to know why you might want to be careful.

WIRED reports that Voilà has mushroomed in popularity in just the past few weeks:

According to data from app analytics company Sensor Tower, it jumped from nearly 300 000 installs across the iOS App Store and Google Play Store globally in April to nearly 8 million already in June.

This is a potential goldmine for any entity wanting to do something with all the data collected from the app.

At the moment there is no evidence that Voilà is specifically doing any nefarious data collection or selling, although it does collect personally identifying information about you, your phone, and your activity online:

As with many other apps of its kind, Voilà gets permission to transfer and store your images—necessary if you want to use the app—which the company says it deletes after 24 to 48 hours, but there’s no way to confirm if that actually happens.

Ultimately, though, it’s just another app trying to make a ton of money via targeted advertising:

It shares personal data with third-party partners and advertisers in countries outside your own, including advertisers that may track your activity across the web.

The app also discloses your personal information to any of its sibling companies, affiliates or subcontractors.

And when they’re not making money through advertising, they make money with sneaky subscriptions.

Voilà AI Artist is free for iPhone and Android, but then you get plagued by adverts.

If that’s not a vibe, it also offers a premium ad-free option via a subscription (not a purchase, because there is no way to buy the app just once):

In exchange for a Voilà Pro subscription, not only will ads be removed, but the app will use “Turbo processing”—though it’s unclear how much faster the app would be.

Voilà Pro costs as much as $2 (roughly R28) per week on Android or $3 (roughly R41) per week on iOS.

Android users can get the app for an entire year at the cost of $21 (roughly R290) and iOS can get a year for $30 (around R410):

It’s worth pointing out here that paying by the week for a year could cost over $100 (around R1 400) on both platforms, so on the off chance you plan to use the pro version for a long time, it’s not a good idea to use weekly payments.

Also, just make sure you don’t accidentally sign up for a recurring payment that will quietly drain your account.

As we said before – use it, don’t use it, it’s your call.

A bit of childhood nostalgia can only hurt a little…

[sources:wired&cnet]