I do that kind of touchup, especially on women but also sometimes on men as part of a general clean-up on photos that I myself have shot. Take out various kinds of 'noise' that I don't remember seeing at the time. In addition, I use differential sharpening along the lines of Margulis' "Professional Photoshop: The Classic Guide to Color Correction" 4th Edition. IMO, the question is which is more "true to life" and in this case I don't think anybody would think the original represents a real person if the photo isn't about somebody with a severe skin disease.

I haven't seen the actual poll that produced these results, but I have been an op-ed in the Washington Post . This seems to be saying that since the data was "... anonymized domestic telephone records -- that is, records stripped of individually identifiable data, such as names and place of residence." there's no problem. But of course all you need is most people's tel to find out their name, address, and a map showing their home. An informal survey of my neighors shows that none of them knew how easy it is get a map of their house; driving directions as needed.