We opened the privacy policy of 26 face-rating apps. Six of them do not have one that works
An audit of 26 face-rating apps: 6 privacy policy links are broken, missing or unreadable, and one policy is a Google Doc about a different app.
Your thumb is over “Allow access to photos.” Before you tap it, there is one basic question: can you actually open the privacy policy the app publishes? We clicked through to all 26 policies so you do not have to. The first finding is about availability, not fine print: six documents did not work for a person trying to read them.
Key numbers
- 26 apps were audited, filtered from 286 unique results returned by the iTunes Search API to face-rating or face-analysis apps with at least 100 US ratings. Our method
- 20 of 26 delivered a readable policy at the URL shown by Apple. Our method
- 6 of 26 did not: two missing links, one 404, one unresolved domain, and two JavaScript-only pages. The six, named
- 1 of 20 readable policies grants a licence over submitted photos. Source
- 74 words was the shortest readable policy; the median was 1,397 and the longest was 6,955. Source
- 10 of 20 readable policies say photos are processed on-device and/or deleted after processing. The counts
Table of contents
- What did we actually check?
- Six of 26 policies are not readable at all
- Two policies are about a different app
- What do the twenty readable policies say?
- Which apps did this well?
- What a privacy policy audit cannot tell you
- What to do before you upload a photo of your face
- The bottom line
- Sources
What did we actually check?
We checked whether the policy URL on each app's US App Store product page opened a readable document, then counted visible words and recorded what the document said. We did not intercept traffic, decompile anything, or test what any app actually does.
The pool came from the iTunes Search API using 12 category terms. It returned 286 unique apps; we kept apps whose name or description claimed to rate or analyse faces and that had at least 100 US ratings, then audited the top 26 by US rating count. All fetches happened on 7 September 2026.
That distinction matters. A privacy policy is a statement of intent by the developer, not a verified fact about the app's data flows. This is a document audit, and nothing more.
Six of 26 policies are not readable at all
Six of the 26 apps failed the basic test of providing a readable policy at the URL Apple shows: Beauty Meter, PSL - Looksmax & Ascend, U Max: AI Looksmax Face Rating, Aesthetica, Areum, and GlowUp — Become Hot.
| App | Developer | US ratings | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Umax - Become Hot | Improvement Tech LLC | 51,463 | readable |
| LooksMax AI | Mnkybrain Labs, Inc. | 42,636 | readable |
| LooksMax Face Rating AI－LooxUP | DIALIGHT INTERNATIONAL LP | 36,661 | readable |
| AnimalFace - looksmax ai score | Morning Star Mobile Limited | 19,479 | readable |
| Thea - #1 Beauty App | Thea Technology Inc. | 15,809 | readable |
| UCHAD: See Your Potential | Promi LLC | 13,226 | readable |
| PSL - Looksmax & Ascend | IQ Labs LLC | 10,870 | JavaScript-only page, no policy text in HTML |
| Ascension - Facial Analysis | Ascension Tech LLC | 4,765 | readable |
| Moggr - Haircut & Looksmax AI | Funny Media Labs, SOCIEDAD LIMITADA | 4,141 | readable |
| Mogged: Glow Up for Men | Metellus Productions LLC | 3,234 | readable |
| Maxxing: LooksMaxxing Glow Up | Glow Up LLC | 2,690 | readable |
| Beauty Meter - Are you pretty? | Hanh Nguyen | 2,007 | no privacy policy link on App Store page |
| Umax AI:Face Scan & PSL Rating | Reyadh Redwan Ahmed | 1,840 | readable |
| Beauty Scanner - Face Analyzer | MAXLABS COMPANY LIMITED | 1,237 | readable |
| FaceKit: 3D Face Analysis | Kramer Ventures GmbH | 1,159 | readable |
| Symme: Face Rating & Analysis | Ilan Huche | 1,075 | readable |
| FaceTag - Face Ratio Analysis | minical Inc. | 900 | readable, Japanese language |
| U Max: AI Looksmax Face Rating | Emirhan Akyildirim | 881 | Google Doc readable, about a different app |
| Looksmaxxing - PSL Face Rating | PRODIGYAI SOLUTIONS | 866 | readable |
| Aesthetica: AI Face Analysis | Talip Serhat Kildaci | 842 | HTTP 404 |
| Ascendr - PSL Scale Ascender | The App Kitchen LLC | 804 | readable |
| AscendMax: Looksmax & Ascend | Kazuo Corporation | 795 | readable |
| Areum: Facial Aesthetics Scan | Bounty Studio, Inc. | 695 | JavaScript-only page, no policy text in HTML |
| PSL Scale & Looksmax: LooksUP | H2A Digital LLC | 606 | readable |
| GlowUp — Become Hot | RMGO | 512 | domain did not resolve |
| FaceRate: AI Looksmax Score | Renaissance Apps LLC | 486 | readable |
The failure modes are different, but the result for a careful user is the same: you cannot inspect the document before deciding whether to upload a face.
Two policies are about a different app
Two readable documents raised an identity problem. U Max: AI Looksmax Face Rating links to a Google Doc that opens “Applies to: Looksmaxxing AI: Better You (the ‘Application’)” and says photos are not uploaded, transmitted, or stored on external servers. The App Store app is listed as “U Max: AI Looksmax Face Rating.”
FaceRate: AI Looksmax Score links to a policy that refers to “Onyx” and “Chart AI,” not FaceRate. That document says “Onyx does not collect or derive biometric face data” and describes features that do not match the app name. We report the mismatch; we do not infer what the app does.
What do the twenty readable policies say?
Across the 20 readable policies only, the clearest pattern is restraint: most claims concern stated handling practices, not verified behaviour.
| Finding | Count across 20 readable policies |
|---|---|
| Photos processed on-device and/or deleted after processing | 10 of 20 |
| Use the word “biometric” somewhere | 10 of 20 |
| Explicit “we do not sell” statement | 8 of 20 |
| Mention a retention period | 8 of 20 |
| Name a third-party SDK | 8 of 20 |
| Binding arbitration or class-action waiver | 0 of 20 |
| Company licence over submitted photos | 1 of 20 |
One policy, Maxxing: LooksMaxxing Glow Up, grants a licence over submissions. Our capture ends mid-sentence: “By submitting User Submissions to the Platform, including photographs and other media, you grant GlowUp a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to use, process, analyze, and store your submissions for the purpose of generating Scores, providing Suggestions, and improving the funct” [our capture truncates here]. That is one app out of twenty, which is genuinely better than this category's reputation suggests.
Do not overread a keyword count. Fifteen of 20 readable policies contain “advertising,” but that cannot separate ad-partner disclosures from statements that photos are never used for advertising. We therefore do not report an advertising share.
Which apps did this well?
Several developers gave readers useful, concrete statements. That deserves credit, even when the statement remains only a policy promise.
- LooksMax Face Rating AI－LooxUP says retained analysis results are not used for advertising, user tracking, facial recognition, biometric identification, or training AI models: policy.
- PSL Scale & Looksmax: LooksUP says uploaded photos are not used for advertising, marketing, tracking, or training its own models: policy.
- Mogged: Glow Up for Men says TrueDepth data is processed and stored only on-device and never transmitted: policy.
- Beauty Scanner - Face Analyzer says it currently does not collect face data and processes everything locally: policy.
- FaceTag - Face Ratio Analysis uses a 74-word Japanese policy saying the face photograph is not uploaded to a server and analysis happens on-device: policy.
Length is not a quality signal. The shortest policy describes a specific, privacy-protective design, while the longest may simply cover more legal topics. Read the sentence about your photo, not the word count.
What a privacy policy audit cannot tell you
This audit cannot tell you whether an app follows its policy. It cannot prove that on-device processing happens, that deletion is complete, or that a third-party SDK receives nothing.
It also cannot decide whether a face image is legally biometric information in every context. One policy calls face geometry biometric information under US state laws like BIPA; another contains a generic template row saying “Biometric information Fingerprints and voiceprints NO.” We report those words without extrapolating from them.
If you want the broader question of whether these products measure what they claim, see why AI cannot measure attractiveness, and the AI face analysis glossary for what terms like embedding and landmark actually mean. Privacy and validity are separate checks.
What to do before you upload a photo of your face
You can do a meaningful first check in 60 seconds:
- Open the App Store listing before installing.
- Tap the privacy-policy link Apple displays.
- Check the identity: does the document name this app, rather than another product?
- Find the photo sentence: does the image leave the device, and when is it deleted?
- Look for a deletion route: can you request deletion, and does the policy explain how?
If the link is missing, broken, unresolved, or blank without JavaScript, treat that as missing information. It is not proof of bad conduct, but it is a reason to pause.
Our own /test is free, has no paywall after upload, and shows how a photo reads rather than scoring you. It is not a validated clinical instrument either. For more context on the category, compare the questions in should I trust face-rating apps?, our earlier privacy audit, and what these apps actually charge once you are past the upload screen.
The bottom line
The first privacy question is not “does this policy sound sophisticated?” It is “can I open the document, and does it clearly apply to this app?” In this audit, 20 of 26 policies were readable, six were not, and one readable policy granted a photo licence.
A policy is useful evidence of stated intent, not a guarantee. Check it before you upload, and remember that a clean document still needs to be treated as a promise that deserves verification.
If you want a perception-focused result without a numeric beauty score, try /test and read what the photo communicates.
Sources
- iTunes Search API, US storefront and the 12-term app-pool search described above.
- Umax - Become Hot, Improvement Tech LLC, privacy policy.
- LooksMax AI, Mnkybrain Labs, Inc., privacy policy.
- LooksMax Face Rating AI－LooxUP, DIALIGHT INTERNATIONAL LP, privacy policy.
- AnimalFace - looksmax ai score, Morning Star Mobile Limited, privacy policy.
- Thea - #1 Beauty App, Thea Technology Inc., privacy policy.
- UCHAD: See Your Potential, Promi LLC, privacy policy.
- PSL - Looksmax & Ascend, IQ Labs LLC, privacy page.
- Ascension - Facial Analysis, Ascension Tech LLC, privacy policy.
- Moggr - Haircut & Looksmax AI, Funny Media Labs, SOCIEDAD LIMITADA, privacy policy.
- Mogged: Glow Up for Men, Metellus Productions LLC, privacy policy.
- Maxxing: LooksMaxxing Glow Up, Glow Up LLC, privacy policy.
- Umax AI:Face Scan & PSL Rating, Reyadh Redwan Ahmed, privacy policy.
- Beauty Scanner - Face Analyzer, MAXLABS COMPANY LIMITED, privacy policy.
- FaceKit: 3D Face Analysis, Kramer Ventures GmbH, privacy policy.
- Symme: Face Rating & Analysis, Ilan Huche, privacy policy.
- FaceTag - Face Ratio Analysis, minical Inc., privacy policy.
- U Max: AI Looksmax Face Rating, Emirhan Akyildirim, Google Doc policy.
- Looksmaxxing - PSL Face Rating, PRODIGYAI SOLUTIONS, privacy policy.
- Aesthetica: AI Face Analysis, Talip Serhat Kildaci, privacy policy.
- Ascendr - PSL Scale Ascender, The App Kitchen LLC, privacy policy.
- AscendMax: Looksmax & Ascend, Kazuo Corporation, privacy policy.
- Areum: Facial Aesthetics Scan, Bounty Studio, Inc., privacy policy.
- PSL Scale & Looksmax: LooksUP, H2A Digital LLC, privacy policy.
- GlowUp — Become Hot, RMGO, privacy page.
- FaceRate: AI Looksmax Score, Renaissance Apps LLC, privacy policy.
Frequently asked questions
Do face rating apps have privacy policies?
Usually, but not always in a usable form. Our audit found readable policies for 20 of 26 apps, while six had a missing, broken, unresolved, or JavaScript-only policy page; see our privacy audit.
Do face rating apps keep your photos?
The policies do not give one universal answer. Some say photos are processed on your device or deleted after processing, so check the specific app's policy and its deletion route before uploading.
Can a face rating app use my photo to train AI?
A policy may say it does not use uploaded photos to train models, but that is a statement of intent, not a verified technical finding. The AI face-analysis glossary explains the terms without treating marketing language as proof.
How do I check an app's privacy policy before installing?
Open the App Store listing, tap its privacy-policy link, confirm that the document names this app, and look for photo processing, deletion, and sharing language. This practical guide covers the same checks in more detail.
Is a privacy policy a guarantee?
No. It is a developer's statement of intent, not a guarantee that the app behaves exactly as described; this audit did not intercept traffic or decompile anything.