Here's How The Viral App Voilà Stores Your Data

You’ve probably seen your friends transforming into animated characters on TikTok, thanks to the viral Voilà app. The new app, which launched in March 2021, makes it so easy to give yourself a “Disney” makeover with 3D and 2D cartoon filters. Since the app stores some of your data — including images you upload — you may be wondering if the Voilà app is safe. Here’s what you need to know.

If you haven’t tried it out yet, the Voilà AI Artist Cartoon Photo app, which is available on both the App Store and Google Play, uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to transform a photo you upload into something that looks like a cartoon character. There are four filter variations you can choose from: 3D cartoon (which is similar to Pixar/Disney style), Renaissance painting, 2D cartoons, and caricatures.

Once you’re done having fun with the app, you might wonder how secure your information is. In its privacy policies, the Voilà app provides information about how your information is stored and used. For a better understanding, take a look at what the app says about how it uses information you share.

Photos:

When opting to either upload a picture or take a picture with your phone, you’ll be asked by the app to give consent to access your phone’s media gallery. You always have the option of not allowing the app to access your media gallery — but if you want to transform a photo, you’ll need to consent. According to the privacy policy of the app’s parent company, Wemagine.AI, Voilà deletes the pictures and the data associated with them after 24 to 48 hours (allowing you time to edit them if you choose), but you won’t be able to confirm that this happens.

The company may also have metadata from your photos (like geotags) since that may happen automatically, even though the app doesn’t require it. The metadata should also be deleted from its Google Cloud Platform following the 24 to 48 hour period. According the Wemagine.AI privacy policy, the app doesn’t use “your photos and facial feature for any reason other than to provide you with the portrait/editing functionality of Voilà Ai Artist App.”

Aside from separate uploads, the app doesn’t collect any of your photo albums, even if you grant the app access to them.

Personal Info:

In Voilà’s privacy policy, the company details the scope of the information they collect from users, as well as how it’ll use the data. You can expect your log-in data, such as your phone number, gender, language, and IP address, as well as your profile information — photo and biography, searches you make on the platform, and location information — to be collected.

The company shares that this data will be used “to provide language and location-based personalization.” The policy also notes that it may share your info, including personal details, with third parties such as law enforcement, businesses, and governments. If there’s any other need to disclose your data for reasons outside of their policy, the company will contact you for consent.

In the parent company policy, the app makes clear that it “will take all the steps reasonably necessary to ensure that your data is treated securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy.” Additionally, it states your personal data won’t be transferred “to an organization or a country unless there are adequate controls in place” to secure data and other personal information.

Usage Data:

Though you always have the option to delete your user account and profile at any time, the history of your activities can still be accessed by the company when “lawfully used” for the purposes it details in its privacy policy. Usage data that Voilà collects includes your computer or phone’s IP address, browser, what pages you visit and when, and how much time you spend using the app.

Similar to many other apps, a lot of your information is shared when you use Voilà. According to the Wemagine.AI policy, the company states, “We strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal data, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.”

Like many other apps, you’ll ultimately need to decide for yourself whether or not you want to consent to the collection of your data so you can use Voilà’s features. If you do give the app a shot, but you decide later that you no longer want the company to collect your data (which, of course, may impact your app experience), you can simply email connect@voila.expert.