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How to remove yourself from PimEyes

In short
  • PimEyes is the largest consumer face-search engine. Upload a photo, get every other photo of that person online. As of 2026 their free opt-out is real but requires government-ID verification.
  • Free opt-out removes currently-indexed photos. The paid PROtect plan adds continuous monitoring and auto-removal of new indexed photos.
  • Typical removal turnaround: 3 to 14 days after ID verification. Re-listings happen as PimEyes re-crawls the web; manual rechecks recommended quarterly.
5 min read Last reviewed May 2026 Free scan available

What PimEyes actually is

PimEyes is a Poland-based face-search engine launched in 2017. It crawls publicly accessible photos on the web, extracts face geometry, and lets anyone upload a query photo to find every other photo of that person in their index. The index is in the billions of photos. The search response is sub-second.

The marketing pitches it as "find your own photos" — useful, for example, for people who want to know what unauthorized photos of them exist online. The realistic use is the opposite: anyone with a single photo of you can find your other photos, which often reveal your workplace, friends, family, and neighborhood through context clues.

PimEyes has been the subject of GDPR complaints in the EU and BIPA-adjacent litigation in Illinois. The free opt-out flow described below was introduced and refined under regulatory pressure.

The step-by-step free opt-out

  1. Find the opt-out form. PimEyes publishes the form at pimeyes.com/en/opt-out-form. It's the same flow whether you want a free or PROtect removal — the form asks which path you want.
  2. Provide your details. Full name, email, and date of birth.
  3. Upload a clear photo of your face. Used for matching. Should be clear, front-facing, well-lit. Avoid sunglasses, hats, heavy filters — PimEyes uses the photo to identify which face-records in their index belong to you.
  4. Upload a government ID. Passport, driver's license, or national ID. Required for verification. PimEyes states the ID is used solely for verification and deleted afterward; you're trusting that policy.
  5. Submit and wait. 3 to 14 day turnaround. PimEyes searches their index for matches to your reference photo, then suppresses those records.
  6. Verify. After receiving confirmation, search yourself on PimEyes using a different photo of yourself to confirm the suppression worked.

PimEyes is one of three face-search services that matter. The full sweep also handles FaceCheck.id and Clearview. Delist files them all.

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Free opt-out vs. PROtect: the actual difference

The free opt-out is one-time. PimEyes suppresses the photos in their index at the time of your request. The technical scope of that suppression is limited:

The PROtect plan ($39.99/month as of 2026) addresses these limits by running continuous monitoring on the index and alerting you when new matches appear, plus auto-submitting suppression for the new matches.

Worth paying for if: you are actively being searched for (doxxing situation, recent media attention, controversial public role). Probably not worth it if you're a typical user opting out preventively.

What PimEyes opt-out doesn't cover

Several things the suppression doesn't reach:

If your goal is full face-search privacy

PimEyes opt-out alone is partial coverage. The full sweep is:

  1. Free PimEyes opt-out (this page).
  2. FaceCheck.id removal request (via their privacy page).
  3. Clearview AI consumer privacy request (less reliably effective due to ongoing litigation).
  4. Remove photos from the source where possible (delete from social profiles, request takedown from website operators).
  5. For Illinois residents: assert BIPA rights explicitly — face-search services respond faster to IL-residency-stated requests.

Frequently asked questions

Does the free PimEyes opt-out actually work?
Yes, with caveats. PimEyes processes free opt-out requests but requires identity verification (usually a government ID photo) and the suppression applies to photos that are already in their index at the time of the request. New photos indexed afterward are not automatically suppressed — that's the PROtect plan's function. So "opt-out" here means "stop showing my currently-indexed photos" rather than "never show me again."
Why does PimEyes need my government ID?
To verify the request is from the actual subject of the photos. Face-search services have a stronger verification incentive than text-based brokers because malicious removal requests could be used to scrub photos of people the requester wants to hide. The ID is the minimum verification standard PimEyes uses. They state the ID is used only for verification and deleted afterward — but you're trusting their privacy policy on that.
Is the PROtect plan worth paying for?
Depends on your threat model. PROtect runs continuous monitoring on PimEyes's index, alerts you to new matches, and automates removal of new indexed photos. For high-profile individuals, doxxing-survivors, or anyone actively being searched for, the continuous monitoring is the value. For most people, a one-time free opt-out covers the realistic case — most users don't get new photos indexed weekly.
How long does PimEyes removal take?
Typical turnaround is 3 to 14 days after ID verification. PimEyes processes manually because they verify the ID against the photos. High-volume periods can stretch this to 3-4 weeks.
What about photos that get re-indexed later?
This is the structural limit of the free opt-out. PimEyes re-crawls the web on a rolling basis. A photo published after your opt-out — or a photo that wasn't in their index at the time — can be added later. Without PROtect monitoring or a third-party watcher, you have to manually re-check periodically and re-submit if new matches appear.

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PimEyes is one of three. We file all of them.

Delist files PimEyes, FaceCheck.id, and Clearview opt-outs in parallel, then monitors for re-indexing. Free scan first.

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