.jpg?rect=0%2C0%2C2000%2C1125&auto=format%2Ccompress&fmt=webp&width=720)
Who doesn’t love apps that spruce up your selfies? Now, Meitu, a Chinese app that enhances your pictures in a single click, has become all the rage.
It makes you look oh so pretty and lends your photos Chinese aesthetics. Basically, the app lightens your skin and gives you rosy-pink cheeks. Not surprisingly, it has been slammed as racist and sparked outrage.
But here’s the really, really scary bit. Meitu potentially allows others to access your personal information – and even use your phone!
This is how it works. Meitu, experts point put, scrapes important information from your phone. And most importantly, it picks your IMEI number as well.
By accessing your IMEI number, the app potentially allows anyone to clone your phone. This simply means that a total stranger can now send texts and make calls from your phone, besides listening in on your calls. *shudder*
The app has been a rage in China for quite sometime and became huge in the United States about a month ago. Meitu has clarified that it will only use the information for user identification purposes. But others have argued that if hackers get their hands on the data, it could be dangerous at numerous levels.
And, of course, there is also the issue of the app being dubbed racist.
So now it’s for you to decide which of these two reasons will put you off from buying into the craze.
Meanwhile, though, take a look at how some of our other netas look like after a Meitu makeover.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)