Lensa AI’s Terms Allow It To Use Images ‘Without Compensation’

Photo editing app Lensa AI’s terms and conditions allow it to distribute and use users’ images without any compensation.

Lensa AI has soared in popularity in the last week to take the number one spot in the U.S. on Apple’s App Store charts — after its artificial intelligence (AI) selfie generator “Magic Avatars” went viral.

However, social media is warning people about the app’s terms and conditions that unsuspecting users may have accepted without thinking.

“Lensa may allow you to upload, edit, store and share content, including photos and videos,” the app’s terms and conditions say.

“We do not claim ownership over your User Content,” it continues. “However, in order to provide you with the services (e.g., to make our services accessible to you), we seek a legal permission from you to use your User content.

“You give us such a permission by means of a Company License.”

Users then have to grant Lensa AI a long-term license so that they can perform use, reproduce, modify, distribute and create derivative works from images.

If they agree, users will not receive any additional compensation for their images.

Lensa’s terms say this is “for the purposes of operating or improving” the app’s existing and upcoming products.

Therefore, users who agree allows Lensai’s AI to train within the user’s application of the Magic Avatars feature.

Be Wary

Cybersecurity expert Jake Moore, from ESET, tells the Daily Mail that users should be wary of Lensa’s terms and conditions.

“Similar to apps in the past that have requested lots of permissions and access to function, people need to be very aware of what they are allowing these apps to do and even own,” Moore explains.

“By using Lensa you will be granting permission to own the generated photo which will be placed in a database along with potentially other identifiable information,” Moore adds.

“Lensa also appear to have users agree for their generated pictures to be shared with third parties which often people do not realise to be a problem.”

Lensa’s terms and conditions state that users can request that their personal data be deleted by sending an email to the company.

According to Wired, Prisma Labs, the team behind Lensa AI, says it is working on an updated privacy policy.

“The user’s photos are deleted from our servers as soon as the avatars are generated,” Prisma Labs CEO and cofounder Andrey Usoltsev tells Wired.

“The servers are located in the U.S.”

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