<s>
FaceApp	B-Algorithm
is	O
a	O
photo	O
and	O
video	O
editing	O
application	B-Application
for	O
iOS	B-Application
and	O
Android	B-Application
developed	O
by	O
FaceApp	B-Algorithm
Technology	O
Limited	O
,	O
a	O
company	O
based	O
in	O
Cyprus	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
app	O
generates	O
highly	O
realistic	O
transformations	O
of	O
human	O
faces	O
in	O
photographs	O
by	O
using	O
neural	B-Architecture
networks	I-Architecture
based	O
on	O
artificial	B-Application
intelligence	I-Application
.	I-Application
</s>
<s>
FaceApp	B-Algorithm
was	O
launched	O
on	O
iOS	B-Application
in	O
January	O
2017	O
and	O
on	O
Android	B-Application
in	O
February	O
2017	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
gender	O
change	O
transformations	O
of	O
FaceApp	B-Algorithm
have	O
attracted	O
particular	O
interest	O
from	O
the	O
LGBT	O
and	O
transgender	O
communities	O
,	O
due	O
to	O
their	O
ability	O
to	O
realistically	O
simulate	O
the	O
appearance	O
of	O
a	O
person	O
as	O
the	O
opposite	O
gender	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2019	O
,	O
FaceApp	B-Algorithm
attracted	O
criticism	O
in	O
both	O
the	O
press	O
and	O
on	O
social	O
media	O
over	O
the	O
privacy	O
of	O
user	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Among	O
the	O
concerns	O
raised	O
were	O
allegations	O
that	O
FaceApp	B-Algorithm
stored	O
users	O
 '	O
photos	O
on	O
their	O
servers	O
,	O
and	O
that	O
their	O
terms	O
of	O
use	O
allowed	O
them	O
to	O
use	O
users	O
 '	O
likenesses	O
and	O
photos	O
for	O
commercial	O
purposes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
response	O
to	O
questions	O
,	O
the	O
company	O
's	O
founder	O
,	O
Yaroslav	O
Goncharov	O
,	O
stated	O
that	O
user	O
data	O
and	O
uploaded	O
images	O
were	O
not	O
being	O
transferred	O
to	O
Russia	O
but	O
instead	O
processed	O
on	O
servers	O
running	O
in	O
the	O
Google	B-General_Concept
Cloud	I-General_Concept
Platform	I-General_Concept
and	O
Amazon	B-Application
Web	I-Application
Services	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Founder	O
and	O
chief	O
executive	O
Yaroslav	O
Goncharov	O
apologised	O
,	O
describing	O
the	O
situation	O
as	O
"	O
an	O
unfortunate	O
side-effect	O
of	O
the	O
underlying	O
neural	B-Architecture
network	I-Architecture
caused	O
by	O
the	O
training	O
set	O
bias	O
,	O
not	O
intended	O
behaviour	O
"	O
and	O
announcing	O
that	O
a	O
"	O
complete	O
fix	O
"	O
was	O
being	O
worked	O
on	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
August	O
that	O
year	O
,	O
FaceApp	B-Algorithm
once	O
again	O
faced	O
criticism	O
when	O
it	O
featured	O
"	O
ethnicity	O
filters	O
"	O
depicting	O
"	O
White	O
"	O
,	O
"	O
Black	O
"	O
,	O
"	O
Asian	O
"	O
,	O
and	O
"	O
Indian	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
