FAQ
General
As a subscriber, you have access to full information about where images of you are being used on the open web. You can perform 25 searches daily, display the results within less than 5 seconds and verify all of them, i.e. open links to websites on which we have found your photos and access source images. Additionally, you can set 3 automatic notifications called Alerts, which are sent when we come across a new photo containing your face. You can also use the help of our highly qualified support team. Get to know where your image has been published. Perform a search and become a subscriber now!
PimEyes is a facial recognition search engine. It works similarly to other search engines by displaying a list of websites that are related to a query. In PimEyes however, the search is performed based on an uploaded photo. Using PimEyes you can check which websites from the open web have published photos containing a given face. You can use this information to track down images that have been published without your consent and defend yourself against scamming, catfishing, or identity theft.
In our search results you can find links to websites that have published pictures of you and URLs to source images (saved on servers of external websites). You won’t find personal data in our results.
Our aim is to provide users with high-quality results without selling their data to other entities (e.g. for ads). As you can see on our website, we don’t display any external ads and we care about our customers’ privacy. That is why instead of divulging their data, we charge them for our services, namely for what is most valuable: information about websites that publish their photos and the possibility to access these websites and source images.
Yes, PimEyes is a subscription. You can choose a monthly billing period (it renews itself every month) or an annual subscription (it renews itself after a year). Choosing the annual plan you will get a 20% discount.
PimEyes is designed to find photos of the person who is conducting the search, not of other people. That’s why the search results are website addresses, not personal data (because you know who you are).
PimEyes is designed to find photos of the person who is conducting the search, not of other people. That’s why the search results are website addresses, not personal data (because you know who you are).
Our top priority in PimEyes is to provide our customers with high-quality services. We can’t achieve this goal in a free or trial version.
Any images you have sent to PimEyes are saved temporarily for 48 hours. We do not store any private data from our users. Searching with PimEyes is safe and protected.
We work very hard to provide you with high-quality results, however it is possible that you won’t find your photos in the results. If you are unsatisfied with your results, please perform a new search and choose a photo that best fits the criteria described in this article on our blog. You can also try conducting a search using a selfie if you previously uploaded a photo or, the other way around, use an uploaded picture instead of a photo taken at the moment.
If you continue to not have any results, it seems that your privacy is well protected. However, we can’t guarantee that.
An Alert is an automatic notification about newly-found results. You receive it when we come across a new photo containing your face.
When you are a subscriber, we speed up your search and display your results within less than 5 seconds (usually 2-3 seconds). That is an instant search.
No, we do not search for videos or photos in video content. We also don’t search for covers or thumbnails on video platforms.
No, we don’t search social media because these kinds of platforms don’t allow crawling their data. That also includes public profiles (e.g. companies, influencers, brands).
Please fill in our Opt-out Request Form available here: https://pimeyes.com/en/opt-out-request-form.
When filling in the form, you will be asked to upload a photo of yourself. We will use your picture to perform a search in order to find potential photos of you that are connected to the face fingerprints maintained by us. Uploading your photo is necessary in order to carry out the opt-out procedure and find your data (if any) as we do not have any information about you in our system (name, email, etc.).
In our search results you can find links to websites that have published pictures of you. We provide you with 2 URLs:
- The link to a particular website on which your photo has been published.
- The link to the source image. This link redirects you to the place where your image is saved on a server.
Billing
To purchase and activate a subscription you can use the payment methods provided by FastSpring, PayPal or Transaction Cloud including credit/debit card. This way your purchase can be done safely and quickly.
We are very sorry about that. Please contact the payments processor, FastSpring: https://fastspring.com/consumer-support/ or PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/us/smarthelp/topic/PAYMENTS.or Transaction Cloud:(https://transaction.cloud/contact)
Our services can be purchased only as a subscription. If you want to use subscription only for a month feel free to cancel it any time. You will be able to use the service till the end of the billing period.
The prices on our website do not include the local taxes which might vary depending on the country or even state you live in. However, in many countries our basic price is the final price. You are always informed about the amount of local taxes added to the basic price of our service at the beginning of the transaction in the FastSpring payment form.
Yes, cancelling a subscription online is possible. You can cancel your active PimEyes subscription from the user’s panel:
- Go to Settings.
- In the "Payments" section, click the "Orders & Subscriptions" button. You'll be redirected to the list of your subscriptions and orders.
- Click the "Cancel subscription" button on the subscription you would like to cancel.
After you cancel subscription, you can still access to it till the end of current billing period.
Technical
To receive the most accurate results, please follow the tips from the article on our blog about improving your searches by choosing the best photo. A proper image should meet these technical requirements:
- File format - typical for images: JPG, PNG, BMP, TIFF
- Image size - a maximum of 1.5 MB
- Face position - straight, not crooked
- Face size - a minimum of 128*128 px (this value is independent of the image size)
Your photo probably doesn’t meet our technical requirements, such as:
- File format - typical for images: JPG, PNG, BMP, TIFF
- Image size - a maximum of 1.5 MB
- Face position - straight, not crooked
- Face size - a minimum of 70*70 px (this value is independent of the image size)
If you receive a notification that the image you have used is broken or that there are no faces found in the uploaded image, please use a different photo to perform a search.
The face is probably too small to be recognized by the search mechanism. This kind of situation usually happens in photos where a person or people are presented in the background. Please take a look at our article on how a good photo should look: https://pimeyes.com/en/blog/how-to-improve-the-facial-recognition-search-results
Support
We provide help only in English.
Please contact us. Fill in the form and describe your problem in the message. Attach screenshots if possible - that will really help us solve your problem.
PimEyes' opt out system works in the following way: submitted image is being indexed and the index data is compared to the existing data in the database. The matching data is removed and the index combination is permanently blocked from future processing. Since images might be constructed with multiple index combination there is a small possibility that not every image will be removed. Accordingly we kindly suggest to perform opt-out with several images, as far as it gives opt-out engine possibility to block more complex index combinations. In rare cases, some results might appear which are too low quality to be indexed. For such cases PimEyes has developed feature to exclude certain images from search result. Under each search result you may see a button "exclude from public results". Please press the button and follow the instruction to remove the particular image from the search engine. Once the request is approved data related to the certain image is removed, and blocked from future searches permanently. If for some reason you have trouble to opt-out, or follow instructions please do not hesitate to contact us. Our team is ready to assist you.
As a rule support responds to the messages within 24 hours during working days (Monday - Friday).
Results
The source image is a graphic file saved on a server and then used on a website. The image doesn’t have to be saved on the server of the website that it is used on though that is where it is displayed. In such cases, the source image is saved on an external server, usually called CDN (Content Delivery Network), and can be displayed on any website that has access to its link.
It is possible that this website is not responding, because of, for example, problems with its server or changes that administrators are making at the moment. When this problem occurs, one of the “500” errors (the most common being 500, 503, and 504) is displayed. This error is reversible, so it is good to reload the page after a few minutes or the next day.
When you reach the limit of daily searches, we reset it within 24 hours, so you can use our search engine again the next day.
No, that is impossible: if our bots find an image on some website that means this website did, at some point in time, publish this specific photo. But the fact it was published doesn’t indicate that it is still being displayed under a particular link. It might have been removed from the website (for example as a result of a DMCA request) or moved to another link. The situation where a photo is moved somewhere else is much more common. This occurs especially when it has been used as a cover of a post found on a category page: when newer posts are published, the older ones are pushed to further pages. You can usually find them using the pagination on this category page.
Yes, there might be slight differences between results from searches performed at different times. If you have received fewer results than in the previous search, please perform the next search using the same photo.
To remove the result from publicly available searches, please fill in the form available here: https://pimeyes.com/en/submit-delete-request. You'll find the "Result ID" on the grey button with the "Copy Result ID" icon on it. It will appear after you click on a certain search result. When you click on the button the "Result ID" will be copied. You have to fill in the form for each result separately.
You have to be aware that PimEyes, like other popular search engines (Google, Bing,) only displays images from source websites and does not store pictures. A photo appears in our search results as long as it is saved on the external website’s servers. If you want to remove an image from the website, you have to contact the webmaster of the site where that image appears and invoke your rights to privacy. However, with the PROtect plan, you can manage all results containing your face. Buy the PROtect plan here: https://pimeyes.com/en/premium#pro-tect.
Alerts
An Alert is an automatic notification about newly-found results. You receive it when we come across a new photo containing your face.
Your Alert is valid until you delete it or cancel your subscription.
To set an Alert, please follow these instructions:
- Perform a search using the photo you want to set your Alert for.
- When the results are displayed, click on the round blue button above them (it has a bell icon on it).
- When the options pop up, check if the uploaded photo is correct. If so, you can rename your Alert by clicking on the “My Alert” phrase (that is the default title).
- If all the data is correct, click the “Set Alert” button. Your Alert is now set.
You are notified about new results after we find them. If there are no new results found, we don't send you any notification.
Additional features
To upgrade your subscription to PROtect, please go to the PROtect tab in your user’s panel and choose the Upgrade plan. To upgrade to Advanced, please use this link: https://pimeyes.com/en/premium#advanced.
Depending on your needs, we can offer you additional features included in 2 plans:
In the PROtect plan you benefit from being able to:
- Manage current and future results (including the possibility to block them from being displayed in publicly available searches)
- Draft and send up to 80 DMCA and GDPR Takedown Notices on your behalf to have your photos removed from external websites.
In the Advanced plan we offer you the possibility of:
- Performing unlimited searches
- Conducting Deep Searches (more thorough searches)
- Using Search Filters
- Exporting the results to PDF or CSV
In the upgraded plans you can also benefit from a higher number of Alerts: 15 in PROtect and 500 in Advanced.
The services like PROtect Image and Takedown Notices me are available only in the PROtect plan because it is designed to protect individuals’ privacy on the highest level. The Advanced plan is created for another goal, so those services are not included.
Affiliate
Billing
Both the monthly and annual subscriptions get renewed automatically.
Changing a payment method is possible only through the FastSpring Account Management. In order to log in to the FastSpring Account Management go to this link: https://pimeyes.onfastspring.com/account. Fill in the form and wait for further instructions via email. After logging into Account Management, follow the instructions from here: https://fastspring.com/question-a-charge/#update-billing-info.
Contact the payments processor, FastSpring - https://fastspring.com/consumer-support/ or PayPal - https://www.paypal.com/us/smarthelp/topic/PAYMENTS. or Transaction Cloud - https://transaction.cloud/contact Payment processors are the only legal entities that can verify information about your payment.
Please make sure you have checked your email inbox and followed the instructions. If you don't see the email immediately, check the SPAM or JUNK folders because the message may have been sent there.
This information is located in the user’s panel.
- Go to Settings.
- In the "Payments" section, click the "Orders & Subscriptions" button. You'll be redirected to the list of your subscriptions, orders and transactions.
A refund is not possible if the user has performed at least one premium search. Otherwise, write to us by using our contact form.
Please familiarize yourself with the refund conditions in our Terms and Conditions of Use.
You can cancel your active subscription from the user’s panel:
- Go to Settings.
- In the "Payments" section, click the "Orders & Subscriptions" button. You'll be redirected to the list of your subscriptions and orders.
- Click the "Cancel subscription" button on the subscription you would like to cancel.
If you're using a smartphone, follow these steps:
- Access the user's panel by clicking on the "My Account" button from the menu on our main page.
- Open the menu again and click on the settings button at the bottom of the list.
- In the "Payments" section, click the "Orders & Subscriptions" button. You'll be redirected to the list of your subscriptions and orders.
- Click the "Cancel subscription" button on the subscription you would like to cancel.
After you cancel your subscription, you still keep access to you account for the current billing period.
Please remember that your subscription renews itself automatically until you cancel it. A lack of funds on your bank account or credit/debit card isn’t enough to cancel your subscription. In this situation, the payments processor will repeatedly try to charge you until the payment is successful.
Canceling a subscription does not imply removing your account. If you want to remove your account, follow the instructions from here.
Please visit the pricing page, click pay on chosen plan there. Button “buy access” will automatically change to “Upgrade to” or “Downgrade to” or “Current plan” based on current active plan.
Technical
Don't worry, it happens to the best of us ;) Please visit the login page and click the "Forgot Your Password?" button (it is located below the login and password fields). You will be asked to enter your email address. Now, go to your inbox and check it for an email from us with the link to change your password. The password reset link expires after 60 minutes. After clicking it you will be taken to a page where you can change your password. All you have to do is follow the instructions.
Deleting an account is irreversible, so please think through your decision to do so. If you are determined to delete your account, follow these instructions:
- Sign in to the user's panel.
- Go to Settings
- In the “Settings” section, click the "Delete account" button.
- Confirm your decision.
This is the date when our bots came across this photo. It is impossible for us to provide the date of when the picture was uploaded to the Internet.
To limit access to PimEyes’s application only for humans we use Google’s Recaptcha system. It doesn’t require to solve any challenges, but it rather scores each user’s request on his interactions with website. Many things can cause problems starting from using old/unpopular browser, through using common IP address by many users, finishing on disabling JavaScript support. If meet any troubles please:
- make sure you have enabled javascript,
- try to use different browser,
- try to use different device,
- try to use different internet connection.
General
Log in to your user’s panel and visit the PROtect tab. You will find a special Upgrade plan there.
The “PROtect image” is a photo/are photos that we use as your model picture to find and block results containing your face. You can set only one PROtect image for your account, but it can contain up to 3 pictures of yourself.
Please perform a new search with a photo that you will use as your model picture (a so-called “PROtect image”). Then we will need some time to verify if your PROtect image meets the requirements of a good photo (read about the requirements here). After we accept your model photo all the results containing your face will be automatically hidden from being displayed.
Particular search results that have once been hidden are removed from our search engine forever. They won’t reappear in the searches after you cancel your subscription. However, it is possible that an identical photo will appear somewhere on a different website. It will always be a new search result so if you don’t have an active PROtect subscription, you won’t be able to add that result to the blocked list. Therefore, before you cancel your subscription, be sure to think this decision through.
Your PROtect image is inactive. That means it does not block results containing your face from being displayed in publicly available searches.
Yes, it is possible. Please find the button with a trash bin icon (it is located on every result) and click it. The result will be automatically hidden from being displayed in the publicly available searches.
Takedown Notices
We use the Takedown Notices to enforce the removal of photos published without your consent on external websites. A Takedown Notice is a formal document sent to the website’s owner or administrator containing your personal data and indicating the reason why a particular photo violates your rights. The DMCA Takedown Notice refers to copyright infringement and the GDPR Takedown Notice to the violation of your image rights.
We need your personal data to send DMCA & GDPR Takedown Notices. We can’t send these requests anonymously.
You may have doubts about disclosing your personal data to the entity that has been using your photo illegally. We can understand that, but sending the DMCA & GDPR Takedown Notices requires information about the person whose rights have been violated. In this situation, you can fill in the form once and then always choose which particular webmaster you want us to send the requests to. Until you order a specific photo to be removed, we won’t send any notices containing your personal data.
Usually, it takes us about a month to know the results of our interventions. How long it takes also depends on you - the sooner you provide the information that is necessary to send the Takedown Notice, the earlier we can draft and send it.
If we have succeeded, you’ll be notified immediately after the photo is removed. If the website administrator doesn’t respond to the first request, we will continue to send multiple requests for a month.
Please, take into notice that takedown requests are not always successful, as far as the success of our intervention depends on multiple factors, such as origin of the website, its responsiveness to request, availability of contact information, jurisdiction, where web site administrator operates, etc.
In the PROtect plan, you have at your disposal 4 hours/month of professional services during which our agent endeavors to remove your photos from the source websites. At this time our agent will:
- find the owner/administrator of the website where the unwanted image appears
- draft and send DMCA requests/GDPR Takedown Notice on your behalf
- monitor if the photos are removed and report the results of our interventions.
General
To upgrade to Advanced, please use this link: https://pimeyes.com/en/premium#advanced.
The Deep Search mechanism allows searching data more thoroughly. , in other words deep search engine uses more complex index combination to retrieve the data that might not be picked up during premium search. It takes a little bit longer than a regular search but it is possible that we will find more results with a given face but not always, since the number of displayed results depends on existence of such results. Accordingly, in some cases there might not be an actual difference between premium and deep search. Please take into the notice that when you perform a Deep Search, we do not check additional data (like new websites or videos), but our mechanism searches existing data in a more thorough way. Deep Search is available only in the Advanced plan and it is impossible to try it before purchasing.
As a subscriber of the Advanced plan you can use all the search filters:
- Time: filter by when the result appeared in our search results
- Safe Search: hide the results recognized as “Adult content"
They are available after clicking the button with a chain wheel icon on it.