Report misuse of FaceSearch

What counts as misuse

FaceSearch is for finding where your own face appears, checking the identity of someone you are dealing with, and lawful journalism and research. The acceptable use page lists the rules in full. The uses we act on fastest are the ones that put a person at risk:

• Searching for a person in order to find, follow, contact or confront them against their wishes.
• Searching for anyone under 18. This is prohibited by our rules and not technically prevented, so reports matter.
• Publishing or threatening to publish results to expose, shame or intimidate someone (doxxing).
• Using results to decide on a job, a tenancy, credit, insurance or a benefit.
• Re-identifying people who chose to be anonymous, such as protesters, sources or survivors.
• Finding or spreading intimate images, or using results to pressure someone.

What to send

1. 1

   Describe what happened and when

   A few sentences are enough: what the person did with FaceSearch, when, and how you know. If someone told you they searched your face, say so and quote them if you can.

2. 2

   Add anything that identifies the account or the result

   Usernames, email addresses, the message or post where the person showed or described a search, screenshots, and any FaceSearch result URLs you have. Do not send intimate images; describe them instead.

3. 3

   Say whether you are the person in the photo

   If you are, we can also hide your face from results while we look into the report, at no cost. If you are reporting on someone else's behalf, say who you are to them.

4. 4

   Tell us how to reach you

   Email contact@facesearch.cc with the subject line "Report misuse". Use an address you check; we may need one or two details to act.

What we do with a report

• Acknowledge it. You get a reply confirming we have it and who is handling it.
• Look at the account. We review the searches, sign-ins and payments tied to the account you describe, within our own records.
• Close accounts that broke the rules. Credits and subscriptions on a closed account are not refunded.
• Hide your face from results. If you are the person affected, we apply a free removal so searches for your face return nothing on FaceSearch while we investigate, and after, if you want.
• Cooperate with lawful requests. Where the police or a court asks for records in a lawful way, we provide what the request covers.
• Keep you out of it. We do not tell the reported account who reported them.

What we cannot do

• Tell you who searched for your face. We do not disclose the identity of users to other users. Law enforcement can request records through the proper channel.
• See private messages or other sites. We only see what happens on FaceSearch. Harassment on a platform or by message has to be reported there as well; the fake profile reporting guide links each platform's form.
• Remove photos from the internet. Hiding your face from FaceSearch does not take a photo off the page it lives on. The takedown guide covers that.
• Act on a report with nothing to check. We can still apply a removal for you, but closing an account needs something that points at it: a username, an email, a screenshot, a quote.

If you are the person in the photos

You do not have to wait for an investigation. Ask for a free removal with one email and we hide your face from FaceSearch results, whoever is searching. If a fake account is involved, the impersonation guide walks through evidence, platform reports and when to involve the police. If the misuse involves a child, report it to the police and to the platform first, then to us so we can close the account.

Reports about FaceSearch itself

Privacy complaints, data requests and questions about how your photo was handled go to contact@facesearch.cc as well; the privacy by design page explains what we store. Security researchers can find our disclosure contact in the security.txt file in the site's .well-known directory. Billing and account problems go to support.