Remove yourself from face-search engines
Face-search engines index your photos and link them to everything else published about you. Delist finds where your face appears and files removals — then keeps watching.
Run my free exposure scan →How face-search works — and why it's another exposure surface
For most of internet history, finding someone required a name. Face-search engines changed that. Upload a photo — from a social profile, a news article, a dating site — and within seconds you get other photos of that person indexed on the open web, often tied to their workplace, neighborhood, and the people around them. Your name isn't required. A single photo is enough.
The technology matured around 2018–2020. Consumer-facing services launched shortly after. As of 2026, three matter: PimEyes (the largest consumer face-search index), FaceCheck.id (positioned for "verification" use cases), and Clearview AI (originally law-enforcement-only, with documented broader use per ICE and IRS revelations).
Each of them has a removal process. They're inconsistent and friction-heavy — some require uploading a government ID. Worth doing regardless. Delist handles the submissions and watches for your photos to resurface.
The three face-search services that matter
Current as of May 2026. Removal flows change — we keep pace.
PimEyes
Searches billions of indexed photos. Free tier returns matches; the paid PROtect plan actively monitors and flags new matches as they're indexed.
A free opt-out form exists, but PimEyes steers you toward the paid plan to use it. ID verification required for the opt-out path.
PimEyes removal guide →FaceCheck.id
Markets itself for "checking who someone really is." Smaller index than PimEyes but growing. The consent framing is weaker than what PimEyes claims.
Removal request via their privacy page. Documentation requirements are heavier than PimEyes. Response time varies.
FaceCheck.id privacy page →Clearview AI
Originally marketed as law-enforcement-only. The 2022 IL BIPA settlement restricted Clearview's ability to sell its database to private US entities. Later reporting on ICE and IRS access showed use was broader than claimed.
Consumer privacy requests go through clearview.ai/privacy-and-requests. Practical effectiveness is unclear given the litigation backdrop.
Clearview privacy requests →What about images on people-search sites?
People-search sites sometimes include photos pulled from public social profiles alongside the text record. They don't index by face geometry, but they expose your photo in the same searchable result.
The fix is the same as the broader broker-layer fix: opt out at the source, which removes both the text record and the image attached to it. The data-brokers hub covers this.
One image-specific extra step: if a Google or Bing image result still shows your photo days after a broker removal, file a separate Google removal request citing the image URL specifically.
The BIPA litigation context
Illinois's Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) is the most aggressive face-search regulation in the US. It requires written consent before any company captures, stores, or shares biometric identifiers — including face geometry.
BIPA cases have produced several major settlements:
- Clearview AI: $50M+ settlement, restricting private-entity sales in the US.
- Facebook (Meta): $650M settlement for face-tagging without consent (2021).
- Multiple ongoing actions against PimEyes and FaceCheck.
If you're an Illinois resident, your BIPA-based legal standing for removal demands is materially stronger than in states without an equivalent. The face-search services know this and respond faster to requests that cite IL residency.
What Delist does
Face-search removal is more fragmented than text-based data broker removal. Here's what we're doing on your behalf:
- Submitting removal requests to PimEyes, FaceCheck.id, and Clearview AI when face-search exposure is detected during your scan.
- Monitoring each service for new matches and re-submitting removals when they appear.
- Citing BIPA where you're an Illinois resident.
- Handling the upstream broker image-results layer through the same data-broker opt-out flow.
We won't claim we can remove your face from the open web — once a photo is published, it gets mirrored and re-indexed. What we do is make sure every consent-based opt-out channel is exercised and kept current.
Start by seeing what's out there
The free scan covers data-broker exposure and image results on the major people-search sites. PimEyes, FaceCheck.id, and Clearview AI checks are included with the paid plan.
Run my free exposure scan →