How to remove your face from face search engines

What face search does, and what an opt-out won’t fix

A face search engine compares the photo you upload with the images in its index and shows the pages where a similar face turned up. The images themselves stay on the sites the engine collected them from.

An opt-out removes you only from that engine’s results. It doesn’t touch the source or any other engine. So start with the page that hosts the leak: report it to the site and its host. The opt-out keeps people from finding you by your face while the source is silent.

How an opt-out usually works

Look for the opt-out or removal form in the site footer and in the privacy policy, under links like “Privacy”, “Opt-out” or “Remove my data”. The process is similar from one engine to the next:

• You upload a photo of your face so the engine can find matches. Some also ask for a scan of an ID to confirm who you are.
• You give an email address. The confirmation link and the reply go there.
• Several engines say the opt-out is free. You don’t need a paid “protection” plan for it.
• One engine says full deletion takes up to 30 days. Some say they won’t index removed images again.

If the engine operates in the EU: GDPR

GDPR treats biometric data used to identify a person as a special category. Processing it without explicit consent is prohibited, apart from the cases listed in Article 9.

Under Article 17 you can ask for your data to be erased without undue delay if you withdraw consent, object to the processing or the processing is unlawful. The engine has to reply within one month. For a complex request it can extend that by two more months, but it has to tell you so (Article 12).

The engine may point to the exception for data a person has manifestly made public. You didn’t publish the leak, so say so in your request.

If the engine operates in Russia: Federal Law 152-FZ

Russia’s personal data law allows biometric data used to establish identity to be processed only with written consent (Article 11).

• You have the right to ask for your data to be corrected, blocked or destroyed if it is processed unlawfully (Article 14).
• The operator has 10 working days to answer. It can extend that by 5 more working days if it gives a reason.
• The operator has to stop unlawful processing within 3 working days and destroy the data within 10 working days (Article 21).

If the engine is in the US

The US has no general federal right to opt out of data processing. In a 2023 policy statement, the FTC explicitly counts photos of a person’s face and templates made from them as biometric information. In the FTC’s view, collecting such data without clear notice may break consumer protection law.

Some states have their own biometric privacy laws. If you live in one of them, name your state in the request.

Search engines and StopNCII

You can also get links to the leak removed from regular search. Google has a form for intimate images published without consent and a “Results about you” tool for personal contact details.

StopNCII creates a digital fingerprint of an image on your device and shares it with partner platforms. Face search engines aren’t among the partners, so it has no effect on their index.

How to avoid handing over too much

• Set up a separate email address for these requests.
• Upload only what the form requires: one photo of your face, never intimate images.
• Send an ID scan only if the request won’t be accepted without one.
• Keep screenshots of the form, your request numbers and the replies.
• A month later, search for your photo again: new copies can make their way back into the index.