Is this the creepiest dating app yet?

There's a new Russian app on the market and it's promising to change dating for good...

We’ve all been guilty of a sneaky bit of Facebook or Instagram stalking from time to time, but a new facial recognition app could be about to make that usually-innocent pastime a whole lot creepier.

Introducing FindFace, dubbed 'the stalker app' despite only launching two months ago in Russia.

The new app allows users to photograph and upload pictures of anyone, (even a small face in a big crowd), then work out the said person's identity and find and connect to their social media accounts in seconds, with 70% accuracy.

In short, you could be receiving friend requests or Facebook messages from someone you weren’t even aware you had passed in the street, all because they’ve secretly snapped a photo of you.

Like we said, beyond creepy - but also clearly very popular. The app is already performing nearly 3 million searches.

If that's not creepy enough, the app will also throw up the names of ten people they think look the most similar to the object of your distant affection – just to cover all bases. Not getting any less weird guys! This sounds more like police surveillance than a dating app.

Well funnily enough, it is.

Founders Alexander Kabakov, 29, and Artem Kukharenko, 26, have actually been praised by Russian police who have successfully used FindFace to intercept suspects. Not to mention the app is in the final stages of signing a contract with Moscow city government to work with the city’s network of 150,000 CCTV cameras.

'It’s nuts: there were cases that had seen no movement for years, and now they are being solved,' said Mr Kabakov.

There's no denying its promise for the police force but the FindFace team has insisted that its primary use will remain for dating, hoping to 'revolutionise' romance.

'If you see someone you like, you can photograph them, find their identity, and send them a friend request, he explained.

Call us old fashioned, but whatever happened to establishing some level – any level – of actual compatibility or even genuine conversation first?

Luckily, the app is not yet compatible with Facebook, because of the different way in which the site stores its photographs. But Kabakov strongly believes that the app is the next step in technological progress, and is keen to advance.

It looks like we should all start enjoying our freedom, while it lasts…