Lily Hay Newman reports:
Meitu is a popular app that transforms your selfie into an adorable anime character. You’ve probably already downloaded it. In exchange for the simple pleasure of giving you an absurd makeover, though, it demands sprawling access to your personal data and numerous features of your smartphone, seemingly collecting a bloat of information about you in the process. Wannabe nymphs and sprites everywhere: be warned.
It’s normal for apps to need access to a variety of data and functions on a smartphone so they can run properly and deliver their service. But responsible apps ask for the fewest number of “permissions” possible so they don’t have access to anything they don’t absolutely need. It’s natural, for instance, for Meitu to accesses your camera. But it also has access to users’ GPS location, cell carrier information, Wi-Fi connection data, SIM card information, jailbreak status, and personal identifiers that could be used to track you and your device across the web.
Read more on Wired.
Not surprisingly, Meitu claims complete innocence and offers a detailed defense.