Overall, we estimate that Linerock Investments LTDs apps have collected about 300 million installs, 6 million of them in the last 30 days. Linerocks headquarters are based in the British Virgin Islands, and they have development offices in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Jake Moore, a cybersecurity advisor with European cybersecurity company ESET, told VERIFY via email that people should be mindful of what permissions they give to new applications. For further details of our complaints policy and to make a complaint please click this link: thesun.co.uk/editorial-complaints/, Internet users are being warned about the New Profile Pic app as it may be stealing their personal info, one expert has claimed, Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO). Kathleen Polezhaeva from the company said it is based in the British Virgin Islands and has development and customer support offices in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. Youve probably seen it sweeping across your social media feeds. Get our newsletter in your inbox five days a week. In a word, no. Google Play, NewProfilePic: Profile Picture, accessed May 12, 2022, App Store, NewProfilePic Picture Editor, accessed May 12, 2022, Pho.to, Privacy Policy, accessed May 12, 2022, NewProfilePic home page, accessed May 12, 2022, Google Play, Instagram, accessed May 13, 2022, Google Play, TikTok, accessed May 13, 2022, Snopes, Is New Profile Pic App a Russian Malware Scam? As always you can unsubscribe at any time. If you will check the search results you will see other apps with pretty similar titles. According to the While there is no evidence of anything malicious, Ritter offered advice for anyone downloading the app. "In this ever changing world, why stick to one profile pic on your social media? She and others have seen the pictures filling up their Facebook feeds. While it may be a concern for some, Elle Josten said she isnt worried. Several VERIFY viewers reached out to ask if the app is safe to use and what connections it has to Russia. Registered in: Not identified Linked countries: British Virgin Islands, Russia Agent: Commonwealth Trust Limited Search in: The Offshore Leaks data is It is the former Moscow address of the founder of the company. We found thats true, except for a key difference TikTok and Instagram both ask for permission to access peoples contact lists to connect users with their friends on the apps. Moreover, the claims of the apps Russian connection go down to one reason. ", Lula's staff infiltrated and caused damage while the Brazilian Patriots cleaned up., Ray Epps confessed to Jan. 6 Committee he orchestrated attack on Capitol, Tee Higgins "isn't even leaving the hospital till he knows (Damar) Hamlin is OK.", Video shows Sen. John Kennedy telling Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, You will be impeached., The Federal Reserve has suspended the availability of new currency.. Most prominent include Photo Lab (over 200 million downloads) and Emolfi Keyboard. I personally was born in USSR in Moscow and moved to Krivyi Rih [Ukraine] being two months old. A persons contact list could be accessed and the app could collect visual information through the images that you upload, including your profile photos. INTERNET users are being warned about the New Profile Pic app as it may be harvesting their personal info, one expert has claimed. Although there currently is no evidence to indicate that New Profile Pic is a scam, you should always do your due diligence with new apps. Linerock Investments, LTD is a private company. Our iOS team is mostly Russian. NewProfilePics founder was born in Russia and the company has some offices in Russia. Polezhaeva told VERIFY Linerock Investment LTD was founded in Tortola, British Virgin Islands. In early May, NewProfilePic, an application that uses artificial intelligence technologies to stylize your social media profile picture, shot to the top of the charts on Google Play and the Apple App Store. Please contact us if you find an error in the database. "The top management of the company and the managers of the majority of the projects, including myself, are based out of these countries. This ICIJ database contains information on more than 810,000 offshore entities that are part of the Pandora Papers, Paradise Papers, Bahamas Leaks, Panama Papers and Offshore Leaks investigations. On both Google's and Apple's app store, the developer's location is listed as being Tortola in the British Virgin Islands. (WTRF) UPDATE: Snopes has provided an update regarding the NewProfilePic app. It said it was only registered in Moscow because that was the former home of the founder of the company, who has now moved. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google. In 2017, a St Petersburg-based company released FaceApp, which allowed users to upload a photograph which would be aged using Artificial Intelligence. The New Profile Pic app allows users to upload photos and edit them to look like paintings or cartoons. It's also important to read a service's privacy policy before downloading as you may be unknowingly agreeing to share personal information. I pray Rishi Sunak succeeds so as HENRY DEEDES: Wowee was he pumped! "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. The app then asks for permission to access photos and media on the device. Its requested app permissions are similar to other mainstream apps. But some folks like Laura Myer of Fort Myers were suspicious of the app and wanted to know who was behind the artwork. Moore told VERIFY: People have formed trust over many years with the likes of Facebook and Instagram but when a new app goes viral, it is advised to minimize the amount of data shared where possible and reduce the number of permissions granted. But Linerock Investments Ltd, the company behind the app has denied any wrongdoing. Last 60 Days. In sum, the claim that this app is unusually invasive is untrue. Updated [May 13, 2022]: Added statement from cybersecurity expert. An Instagram post dated Feb. 20 from NewProfilePic founder Victor Sazhin said he was born in Russia. You can choose to stop sharing this information with us at any time by going to Facebook or other third-party accounts and removing our access, the policy says. A spokesperson for the app told us that while the screenshots showing charges may be real, they didn't come from the New Profile Pic App as the app, as of this writing, is "absolutely free and it does not contain in-app purchases so it does not require any payment information of the users.". No, Im not concerned, she stated. Our Apps are server-based and user images are uploaded to Amazon AWS [and] Microsoft Azure servers located in the US. But, express permission is required. The website of the app, newprofilepic.com is in Moscow. He updated it yesterday after seeing its part in the Daily Mail post, she said in the email. We have never had an office there. Hundreds of thousands of people have uploaded high-quality pictures of their faces to the New Profile Pic app in order to get a modified profile picture to use on social media. The newprofilepic.com domain was originally registered in Russia, but now its registered in Florida. Lip reader reveals what Prince Charles said secretly at Opening of Parliament, Michael Gove put on silly voices as he discussed cost of living crisis, King 'evicts Harry and Meghan from Frogmore Cottage and offers it to Prince Andrew', Buckingham Palace is said to have issued an eviction notice to the Sussexes amid the fallout from the publication of Harry's controversial memoir Spare, Woman fell in love with man 22 years older but wasn't surprised due to teen crush being Robert Downey Jr, Mum banned from gym over photo posted on her Instagram page, The picture was taken in the gym changing room, and showed mum-of-two Stephanie, Man allowed to keep trading in layby as business keeps doggers at bay, "The police know about it, everybody knows about it. In a world of wild talk and fake news, help us stand up for the facts. Creators of photo editing apps. The new fad is getting a lot of attention but the new app reportedly is sending your information to Russia. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists had already included Linerock Investments Ltd on its Offshore Leaks database, showing the firm's registered address was in Central Moscow, The app offers users the opportunity to create quick digital avatars of themselves. The number of employees ranges from 1 to 25. Again, we cant help remembering the lookalike Bangladesh story. Web1. 'This app is likely a way of capturing peoples faces in high resolution and I would question any app wanting this amount of data, especially one which is largely unheard of and based in another country. It asks for access to the users camera, photos and media. (AP). And the Russian address in domain details was his former Russian address where he hasn't lived for a long time now. Get involved in exciting, inspiring conversations with other readers. 'Although most people will not question the possibilities of anything untoward occurring from simply uploading a photo, the amount of data taken under the radar can often be far more than the user intended on sharing which can cause security and privacy problems. This app was developed by a company in the British Virgin Islands that uses a team of international developers, some of whom live in Russia. Is New Profile Pic App a Russian Malware Scam? This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. The apps domain was formerly registered in Moscow because the founder once lived there. Trump tweeted about his return to Twitter on Nov. 19. Heres everything you need to know about The Grinch sequel, plus the best books your kid can check out now. More info, Tens of thousands of people have been uploading their photographs to the servers of the New Profile Pic app in exchange for the free avatar. This is necessary in order to apply all those fancy effects driven by AI technologies. However, a check of Sunbiz found no company named Linerock Investments Ltd operating or doing business in Florida. Mr Moore warned: 'Before people upload photos or other personal data to a brand new website, they must carry out their own due diligence where possible. ESET Internet Security Global Cybersecurity Advisor Jake Moore has questioned why the popular new app would want such a high level of data from its users, especially when the company is based abroad. The Daily Mail reported that this app was developed by a Discover best apps & games for you from over 6,000,000 apps. Linerock Investments, LTD is a private company. The 700-year-old Coronation chair that has been used for the crowning of King Charles has 'jeopardised' the monarchy by meeting European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, Do we get our 87p back? 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