This archive report was first published on 17 July 2019.
FaceApp, a Russian company with offices in St Petersburg, has been at the center of a storm over its handling of user data.
The app, which allows users to edit photos of their faces to show younger or older versions of themselves, has been downloaded millions of times and has sparked concerns over its terms and conditions.
Some have argued that the company takes a cavalier approach to users' data, with one cyber-security researcher, Jane Manchun Wong, tweeting that the app's server, located in the US, may give FaceApp a competitive advantage by making it harder for others to see how the algorithms work.
Steven Murdoch, a researcher at University College London, agreed, saying that it would be better for privacy to process the photos on the smartphone itself, but that it would likely be slower and use more battery power.
US lawyer Elizabeth Potts Weinstein argued that the app's terms and conditions suggested that user photos could be used for commercial purposes, such as FaceApp's own ads.
However, Lance Ulanoff, editor-in-chief of tech site Lifewire, pointed out that Twitter's terms contained a similar clause.
FaceApp's chief executive, Yaroslav Goncharov, said that the company does not share any data for ad-targeting purposes and that the app makes money through paid subscriptions for premium features instead.
He also said that most images are deleted from the company's servers within 48 hours of being uploaded and that the company does not transfer any other images.
The UK's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) told BBC News that it was aware of stories raising concerns about FaceApp and that it would be considering them.
