We read the App Store privacy labels of 24 face-rating apps. Here is what they say they collect

It is 1 a.m. You download a face-rating app, take the selfie it asks for, and wait for a verdict. Nine screens down the App Store listing, under a gray heading called “App Privacy,” there is a disclosure you have never scrolled far enough to see.

You are not careless for wanting an answer. You are trying to replace a vague worry with something concrete, and the app is designed to make that decision feel immediate.

So we read the labels: a first-party audit of 24 US App Store face-rating and looksmaxxing apps.

Key numbers

• 24 apps met our inclusion rule, carrying 205,493 US ratings combined on 2026-09-04: Umax listing.
• 19 of 24 declare a Data Used to Track You bucket: App Privacy documentation.
• 15 of 24 declare Photos or Videos, including Mogged: Glow Up for Men and FaceTag.
• 10 of 24 name Third-Party Advertising as a purpose, including Maxxing.
• 2 of 24 declare Data Not Collected: U Max and Aesthetica.

Table of contents

• What Apple's privacy labels actually are
• How we built this list
• What the 24 apps declare
• The four findings that matter
• The one label nobody else has
• What this does not prove
• What to actually do before you upload a face
• The bottom line
• Sources

What Apple's privacy labels actually are

Apple’s App Privacy section is a developer-provided summary. “Data Used to Track You” means tracking across apps and websites owned by other companies. “Data Linked to You” means the developer says data is associated with your identity; “Data Not Linked to You” means it says data is not linked to you. Apple’s official documentation explains the categories and tracking definition.

“Not linked” is not “not collected”; a photo can be collected but not linked to identity. “Data Not Collected” is separate, and only two apps in this list use it.

Caveat: labels are useful disclosure, not forensic evidence. They are a map of what the developer reported, not an independent inspection of its systems.

How we built this list

We collected US App Store English listings on 2026-09-04 and queried the public iTunes Search API for twelve terms: looksmax, face rating, attractiveness test, face analysis, psl rating, looksmaxxing, facial attractiveness, rate my face, beauty score, mogged, face score, and looksmaxing. We included apps with at least 100 US ratings, giving 24 apps.

What the 24 apps declare

The four findings that matter

1. Tracking is common. Nineteen of 24 apps declare a Data Used to Track You bucket; this is Apple’s defined cross-company tracking purpose, not proof of wrongdoing.

2. Photos or Videos appear in 15 of 24 labels. Four list it under Data Linked to You: Mogged: Glow Up for Men, FaceTag - Face Ratio Analysis, Ascendr - PSL Scale Ascender, and PSL Scale & Looksmax: LooksUP.

3. Third-party advertising is named by 10 of 24. The table reports the purpose; face requests deserve attention.

4. Only 2 of 24 declare Data Not Collected. They are U Max: AI Looksmax Face Rating and Aesthetica: AI Face Analysis. That is notable, not a safety certificate. Across the 24, Identifiers are most common at 18 of 24, followed by User Content and Usage Data at 16 of 24 each.

Caveat: a label can be long because a developer reports more categories, not because the app is automatically worse. A short label can also leave important questions unanswered.

The one label nobody else has

Areum: Facial Aesthetics Scan (our review) is the only app in our 24-app audit to declare Apple’s Sensitive Info category, listed under Data Not Linked to You for the App Functionality purpose alongside User Content (Photos or Videos). We will not add a theory beyond that declaration.

What this does not prove

Apple has not verified these declarations. This is not an audit of app behavior or retention: labels cannot answer whether a submitted photo is kept, for how long, or deleted when you remove the app. “Not Linked to You” is not “not collected,” and “Data Not Collected” remains self-reported. Newer apps we reviewed after this audit go further: Depuff AI stores face photos and sends them to Google Gemini, Refina names about ten AI providers, and AnimalFace lists user content under tracking.

What to actually do before you upload a face

1. Read App Privacy before installing. Check every bucket.
2. Check the account requirement. Signing in may associate activity with your account.
3. Review Tracking settings. On iPhone, check Settings > Privacy & Security > Tracking before granting permission.
4. Plan deletion. Ask the developer to delete your account and uploaded content; the label does not tell you the retention period.
5. Know the price path before you upload. For the record, our face test runs the analysis before you pay, shows your appeal personality, the band your read landed in and one strength, then a paywall — $5, one-time, for the full report.

The reason a 17-year-old uploads his face at 1 a.m. is not that he is careless. It is that he wants an answer. Treat that need seriously, then keep the healthier frame: a first impression is a changeable social signal, not a verdict on your worth. Our looksmaxxing insecurity guide covers that distinction directly.

Real World Appeal focuses on how a man is perceived in a real first impression. Reports use a 70-155 perception axis and read face, physique and outfit part by part, ending in a dated 7/30/90-day plan. Read our AI face analysis glossary before testing.

The bottom line

The 24 public labels tell a clear story: 19 declare tracking, 15 declare Photos or Videos, 10 name Third-Party Advertising, and 2 declare Data Not Collected. Those are disclosures, not proof of behavior, and do not answer retention.

Read the label and check the account requirement. For a first-impression read, try Real World Appeal.

We went one layer deeper afterwards and opened the actual policy documents rather than the App Store labels. Six of 26 did not deliver a readable one: the privacy policy audit.

Sources

• Apple. “App privacy details on the App Store.” Official documentation of App Privacy categories and Apple’s tracking definition. https://developer.apple.com/app-store/app-privacy-details/
• Real World Appeal. “App Store privacy-label audit of 24 US English listings,” collected 2026-09-04. The 24 verified App Store URLs are linked in the table above.