OREANDA-NEWS. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI, USA) believes that all mobile applications developed in Russia, including FaceApp, could pose a “potential counterintelligence threat.” This is stated in a letter sent to the leader of the Senate Democrats, Charles Schumer.

In July, Schumer sent a letter to the heads of the FBI and the Federal Trade Commission saying that FaceApp could threaten US national security and asked them to take action in this regard. According to the senator, any photos taken from the application may be used in the future without the consent of the user.

In a letter to the senator, the FBI expresses concern, which is partially related to “legal mechanisms available to the Government of Russia that permit access to data within Russia’s borders”. In particular, the bureau considers that Russian authorities can receive remote access to all communication channels and servers in Russian networks without requiring access from providers.

The FBI cites FaceApp as an example of such an application. It was developed by the Russian company Wireless Lab and gained wide popularity this year.

In July, Wireless Lab denied information about data transfer to third parties, adding that the application performs most of the processing of photos in a “cloud”, uploads only photo selected by a user and deletes it after 48 hours.

Sergei Zheleznyak, the member of the Russian State Duma Committee on Foreign Affairs, stated that FaceApp is safe for users, and the allegation of American senator is a new pretext for accusations against Russia.