Meitu Denies Datamining, Shifts Blame To China

The newest photo app craze Meitu is taking the world by storm, but not all in a good way. While its cutesy filters and services are tickling the fancy of users, privacy advocates and security firms are concerned about the amount of information that the app is trying to access. Meitu tried to alleviate these concerns by essentially saying that it’s all China’s fault.

Meitu is the Hong Kong-based app that’s rapidly gaining popularity by turning any picture into a cute anime rendition, complete with cutesy filters. However, upon installation of the app, it starts asking users for access into their devices that run a little deeper than most other apps go, CNET reports.

Among the information that the app is asking for include the location of the user and their phone number, which are two items that privacy watchdogs have been hitting tech companies with for years. The app is also asking users to enable automatic startup for when the phone is turned on.

When asked why it was doing these things, Meitu responded by first stating that it wasn’t mining data to sell to anyone. Rather, it’s just something they are forced to do because they are under the jurisdiction of China. As a result, the tracking services that are usually provided by Apple or Google are not available thanks to regional blocking.

"To get around this, Meitu employs a combination of third-party and in-house data tracking systems to make sure the user data tracked is consistent," a Meitu spokesperson told CNET. "Furthermore, the data collected is sent securely, using multilayer encryption to servers equipped with advanced firewall, IDS and IPS protection to block external attacks."

As for why it needs all the information that it is asking for, the company explains that it is all to provide the best services possible, Tech Times reports. For example, asking users for their location supposedly helps improve services that are based on geography.