How to Opt Out of Clearview AI (2026 Guide)

Clearview AI built its facial recognition database by scraping billions of photos from social media, news sites, and other public web pages, then sells face-matching access to law enforcement and government agencies. It does not offer a public search tool the way people-search sites do, so you can't "look yourself up." But if your face has been scraped into its index, you can request removal, and depending on where you live, you may have a legal right to it.

Key Takeaways

• Clearview AI's opt-out is at clearview.ai/privacy/requests and requires you to submit an email address and a clear photo of your face so the system can locate and suppress your biometric match.
• Clearview AI's own marketing claims a database of over 30 billion images — this is a self-reported, unaudited figure with no independent verification of the exact number.
• A 2022 nationwide settlement (ACLU v. Clearview AI) permanently banned Clearview from selling access to most private businesses and individuals in the US — its customer base is now overwhelmingly law enforcement and government agencies, including a $225,000, one-year contract with U.S. Customs and Border Protection signed in February 2026.
• Clearview explicitly states it does not offer its product to clients in the EU, UK, Australia, or Canada — but that hasn't stopped foreign regulators from pursuing it over data already scraped from their residents.
• In October 2025, the UK's Upper Tribunal ruled UK GDPR applies extraterritorially to Clearview's data practices, reviving a £7.5 million enforcement action from the Information Commissioner's Office. In February 2026, the British Columbia Court of Appeal likewise upheld findings that Clearview is subject to Canadian privacy law despite no longer operating there.
• Residents of states with comprehensive privacy laws (California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Utah, Virginia, and others) have the clearest statutory basis to demand deletion.

What Clearview AI Actually Does

Unlike PimEyes or FaceCheck.ID, Clearview AI does not sell public search access. You cannot pay a subscription and search for someone's face the way you can on those platforms. Instead, Clearview licenses its matching technology directly to:

• Law enforcement agencies (federal, state, and local)
• Government agencies, including immigration and border enforcement
• A small number of enterprise security customers

This makes Clearview functionally different from a consumer-facing broker: your photo can be in its index and matched against, without any public-facing profile ever appearing for you to find. The only way to know your face is likely in Clearview's database is to assume it, since the company has scraped a very large share of publicly posted photos, and act accordingly.

Clearview's own marketing states its database holds over 30 billion images. This figure comes directly from the company and has not been independently audited — treat it as a self-reported claim about scale, not a verified data point.

Clearview AI's Legal Status: A Patchwork, Not a Ban

Clearview AI has not been banned outright, but its lawful operating space has narrowed significantly through litigation and regulatory rulings across multiple countries.

United States

A 2022 settlement in *ACLU v. Clearview AI* permanently prohibited Clearview from making its faceprint database available to most private companies and individuals nationwide. This didn't shut the company down — it redirected its business almost entirely toward law enforcement and government contracts. That business continues: Clearview signed a one-year, $225,000 contract with U.S. Customs and Border Protection in February 2026.

Illinois residents have an additional layer of protection under the state's Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), which was central to earlier Clearview litigation and requires informed consent before a company can collect or store biometric identifiers like faceprints.

United Kingdom

Clearview states it does not offer services to UK clients — but the UK's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has pursued it anyway for scraping UK residents' photos before that policy took effect. On October 6, 2025, the UK's Upper Tribunal ruled in *Information Commissioner v Clearview AI Inc* ([2025] UKUT 319 (AAC)) that UK GDPR applies extraterritorially to Clearview's practices — reasoning that passively collecting, sorting, and classifying UK residents' biometric data counts as "behavioural monitoring" regardless of where Clearview's servers sit or who it sells to. The ruling reversed an earlier tribunal decision and sent the case back to determine the ICO's original £7.5 million enforcement action. Clearview retains the right to appeal further.

Canada

Clearview similarly does not operate in Canada today, but Canadian regulators found it liable for past scraping of Canadian faces. On February 18, 2026, the British Columbia Court of Appeal dismissed Clearview's challenge to findings by the province's privacy commissioner, ruling that scraping facial data from people in BC created a "real and substantial connection" to the province — enough to subject the company to BC's privacy law even after it stopped operating there.

The pattern across the UK and Canada rulings: regulators are increasingly rejecting "we don't operate in your country" as a defense when the underlying data collection already happened. If your face was posted publicly at any point, geography doesn't fully protect you, and it doesn't fully protect Clearview from liability either.

How to Submit a Clearview AI Opt-Out: Step-by-Step

Step 1: Go to the privacy request page

Navigate to clearview.ai/privacy/requests. This is Clearview's official channel for opt-out, access, and deletion requests.

Step 2: Choose your request type

Select the deletion/opt-out option (as opposed to an access request, which asks what data Clearview has on you without requiring removal).

Step 3: Submit your email and a clear facial photo

Clearview requires a current, clear photo of your face to generate a biometric match against its index — this is how it locates and suppresses your specific faceprint rather than removing based on name alone.

Step 4: Wait for confirmation

Clearview does not publish a guaranteed processing timeline for consumer opt-out requests. Save your submission confirmation in case you need to follow up or escalate.

Step 5: Escalate if you're in a state with statutory rights

If you live in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Utah, Virginia, or another state with a comprehensive privacy law or biometric-specific statute, and Clearview doesn't respond or comply, you can file a complaint with your state attorney general or, in California, the CPPA.

Clearview AI vs. PimEyes vs. FaceCheck.ID

Because Clearview doesn't offer a public search tool, it poses a different kind of risk than PimEyes or FaceCheck.ID: you can't verify your own exposure by searching, and the harm shows up as being matched during a law enforcement query rather than someone finding your address through a consumer search engine. Removing your data from all three is a reasonable precaution if you post photos publicly, since scraped photos don't respect which platform they end up feeding.

Why This Doesn't Fully Solve Facial Recognition Exposure

Opting out of Clearview removes your specific faceprint from that one company's index — it does not:

• Stop future scraping if your photos remain publicly posted (locking down social media privacy settings and removing public photos reduces new exposure)
• Remove your face from other facial-recognition search engines like PimEyes or FaceCheck.ID, which require separate opt-outs
• Affect facial recognition systems operated directly by other government agencies or private companies outside Clearview's index
• Undo any past law enforcement match that already occurred using your face

Facial recognition exposure is closer to the data-broker problem than a one-time fix: reducing what's scrapeable and submitting removal requests to each known index is the realistic best available defense today.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Clearview AI let me search to see if my face is in its database?

No. Clearview does not offer a public search tool. Its access is restricted to law enforcement, government agencies, and a small number of enterprise customers following the 2022 *ACLU v. Clearview AI* settlement. You cannot verify your specific inclusion; assume any publicly posted photo may have been scraped.

Is Clearview AI illegal?

Not outright. It operates under significant legal restrictions in the US following the 2022 settlement (banning most private-sector sales) and faces active regulatory findings in the UK and Canada over its collection of those countries' residents' data, despite not currently selling services there. Its legal status varies by jurisdiction and continues to evolve through litigation.

How do I opt out of Clearview AI?

Submit a request at clearview.ai/privacy/requests with your email and a clear photo of your face. Clearview does not publish a guaranteed processing timeline.

Does Clearview AI operate in the UK, EU, Australia, or Canada?

Clearview states it does not offer its product to clients in those regions. However, regulators in the UK (October 2025 Upper Tribunal ruling) and Canada (February 2026 BC Court of Appeal ruling) have both found the company subject to their privacy laws over data scraped from residents there before or despite that policy.

How big is Clearview AI's database really?

Clearview's own marketing claims over 30 billion images. This is a self-reported figure from the company; no independent, non-company source has audited or verified this exact number.

Related Guides

• How to Opt Out of PimEyes
• How to Opt Out of FaceCheck.ID
• How AI Companies Scrape and Sell Your Data
• Complete Data Broker Opt-Out Guide
• Data Broker Removal for Law Enforcement & Public Safety Personnel