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A Harvard student came up with the idea of a social network that uses faces to communicate and exchange information, similar to how Mark Zuckerberg once created Facebook.
From a Harvard University dorm room, freshman Yuen Ler Chow created the school's social networking app for students called TheFaceTag. The special thing is that it uses the face as a method to register and exchange information.
In a video posted on social networks, the author explains that the application is called TheFaceTag because the FaceTag.com website has already been registered by someone else. According to Business Insider, Yuen Ler Chow feels interesting because what he is doing, including naming the app, has similarities with the process of Mark Zuckerberg building Facebook.
In 2004, Mark Zuckerberg created the website TheFacebook, the predecessor of today's Facebook. Under similar circumstances, Yuen Ler Chow launched TheFaceTag.
"Obviously the app has nothing to do with Facebook. But actually I'm a Harvard University student and I'm working on something like a social networking app, with the funny name FaceTag," Chow said.
Controversial start
According to Chow, FaceTag currently has just over 100 registrations via a web browser. However, in a series of videos posted by the author on social networks about the new application, there are nearly a million views. Most comments have the same tone: This is an unethical app, should not continue to develop.
"What's wrong with Harvard kids and don't understand morality?" one user commented harshly.
"What a great idea from a young Harvard student, this probably won't be a threat to democracy in a decade," said another.
"Why don't you think, if there is a reasonable way to do this, it has been created many times," commented Serena Shahidi, a famous person on the short video sharing community.
There are many apps that allow users to exchange contact information with each other, but they are not so common and unlike TheFaceTag, which uses facial recognition to do so.
Chow argues that opponents do not understand the app he created uses the open source facial recognition API.
When a person creates a TheFaceTag profile for the first time, the app scans the face, extracts points and measurements. Information is saved, but not the entire image. If you scan the face of someone who has never signed up for TheFaceTag, it will not respond.
People can enter their phone number, Instagram and Snapchat account details into TheFaceTag. Then there are only 2 options, either share the whole to get the same information from others, or not. If you want to see someone's profile, you must first accept your information publicly.
Big question around privacy
The TheFaceTag debate shows growing interest in facial recognition. Many commenters are concerned about what will happen after giving faces to the app, especially for women.
The biggest risk is that someone hacks TheFaceTag account, collecting the user's friends, contacts, and facial measurements. However, the author continues to believe that the doubt comes from a lack of understanding about the app.
"One reason so many people have a misconception about the app is that I don't really explain it," Chow wrote in an email to Business Insider. The author said that he wanted to make the clip short and concise to spread better, instead of a minute-long detailed presentation video.
TheFaceTag might not be controversial if it generated a QR code instead of using facial recognition. However, the author uses this feature because it is "so much better" than QR. Chow also wants to experiment with open source machine learning tools.
The debate surrounding The FaceTag is taking place on TikTok, one of the apps that collects the most user information today, according to Business Insider.
The video social network tracks activity via cookies, purchases data from third parties, and collects vast amounts of behavioral information, including keystrokes, objects, scenery, and "temporal characteristics." face and body" appears in the video.
Chow also realized this irony situation. "It's weird how a lot of people are scared. Actually I'm collecting data, but almost all other social media apps do, even more. Just because I'm making it clear, they do. feel anxious," commented author TheFaceTag.
Compared to Facebook, TheFaceTag currently has a negligible scale. It seems that critics of this tiny app think they're stopping the next Mark Zuckerberg, before he can ruin society in the future.
Talking to Business Insider, Chow appeared tired of the backlash. However, the freshman still wants to continue developing his app, intending to start promoting The FaceTag and raising capital for the project.