How to Remove Yourself from Clearview AI
Clearview AI is a controversial facial recognition company that has scraped billions of photos from social media and the public web to build a massive biometric database. Their tool is used by law enforcement and private companies to identify individuals from photographs. Opting out is essential if you want to limit facial recognition surveillance.
What Data Does Clearview AI Collect?
Clearview AI collects facial images scraped from public websites, social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter), news articles, and other public sources. They create facial recognition vectors (biometric data) from these images, linking them to the source URLs where the photos were found. Their database reportedly contains over 30 billion facial images.
Step-by-Step Opt-Out Instructions
- Go to https://clearview.ai/privacy/requests
- Select 'Opt Out' or 'Delete My Data' from the request type
- Upload a clear photo of yourself (this is used to find and remove your matches)
- Enter your full name, email address, and state of residence
- Select your applicable privacy right (California CCPA, Illinois BIPA, etc.)
- Submit the request
- You will receive an email confirmation
- Clearview AI will process the request and block your face from future searches
What to Expect After Opting Out
Clearview AI will process your request within 2-4 weeks. They will use your submitted photo to identify matches in their database and block your faceprint from appearing in future searches. However, your images may still exist on the original websites they were scraped from.
Additional Tips
If you are an Illinois resident, you have particularly strong rights under the Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). Residents of California, Virginia, Colorado, and other states with privacy laws can also reference those statutes. Consider also removing photos from the original social media sources.
Last updated: February 10, 2026