The short version
There are dozens of facial-recognition databases that have indexed your face. Seven of them matter to a normal person in 2026 — either because the index is huge, the engine is in active police use, or the consumer-facing version makes it trivial for a stranger to look you up.
Quick read of the table below:
- PimEyes and FaceCheck.ID are the consumer-facing ones — anyone with a credit card can search your face.
- Clearview AI and Corsight are the police/government ones — same threat, different buyers, much larger indexes.
- Lenso.ai, Precheck.ai, and EyeMatch.AI are the in-between — paid consumer products that bolt face-search onto other data products (background checks, breach data, reverse image search).
- All seven have an opt-out path. They also all re-scrape the public web monthly. Filing once doesn't stick — you have to re-file each time you reappear.
Side-by-side comparison
| Engine | Index size (2026) | Who can search | Opt-out works? | Laws honored |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PimEyes | ~2 billion+ scraped | Anyone with a paid subscription | Yes — slow (weeks) | GDPR, CCPA |
| FaceCheck.ID | ~100 million+ | Anyone with credits ($1 / search) | Yes — form requires gov ID | GDPR, CCPA |
| Clearview AI | ~50 billion+ (largest known) | US/Canadian law enforcement only* | Yes for EU/UK residents under GDPR; limited for US | GDPR, UK DPA (forced), BIPA (Illinois only) |
| Lenso.ai | ~few billion (web crawl) | Paid consumer + API tier | Yes — permanent delisting | GDPR, CCPA |
| Precheck.ai | ~100 million + mugshot DB | Paid consumer ($1 lookups, background check buyers) | Yes — partial; mugshots stick around | CCPA; limited GDPR |
| Corsight | Custom watchlists per customer | Government / defense / corporate security | Limited — opt-out depends on the customer using it | GDPR for EU deployments |
| EyeMatch.AI | ~hundreds of millions | Paid consumer + investigative tier | Yes — email-based form | GDPR, CCPA |
* Clearview's official policy is "law enforcement only" but documented contracts include private security firms, sports leagues, and at least one major bank. The "law enforcement only" claim is marketing.
How each one is different (and what that means for removal)
1. PimEyes — the consumer face-Google
The default name people search when they want to look up a stranger's face. About two billion images scraped, growing monthly. Subscription model — anyone with a credit card gets unlimited searches.
Removal: requires uploading two reference photos + an anonymized ID to their opt-out form. Approval takes 1–4 weeks. They re-scrape monthly, so most users need to refile two or three times before all old matches stay suppressed.
2. FaceCheck.ID — the cheap-credit consumer engine
Less hyped than PimEyes but with comparable per-search accuracy. Pay-per-search model — about $1 a lookup. About 100 million indexed faces and growing fast.
Removal: works, but the form is harder to find than the search bar. They specifically ask for the ID to match the face in your reference photos — bad photos get rejected.
3. Clearview AI — the police index
The biggest known facial-recognition database in the world. Roughly 50 billion images, scraped from the public web before 2024 and continuously since. Used by 3,100+ US law enforcement agencies and a long tail of private buyers Clearview won't publicly acknowledge.
Removal: EU and UK residents have working removal rights under GDPR / UK DPA (Clearview has been forced to honor these through enforcement actions). US residents outside Illinois have limited rights; BIPA gives Illinois residents the strongest hand.
4. Lenso.ai — the one with a permanent opt-out
The newest of the seven, and the only one we've found that honors a permanent delisting — once you're off, future re-scrapes don't pull you back. Multi-billion-image index from a continuous public web crawl.
Removal: the most painless of the bunch. Submit one form with reference photos. Permanent unless you re-upload the same face under a new name.
5. Precheck.ai — face search bolted onto background checks
Pairs face search with mugshot databases, court records, marriage records, and social profile aggregation. The $1-per-lookup product is the one consumers see; the wholesale buyer tier sells to background-check companies.
Removal: the face index responds to removal. The court / mugshot data attached to the same record is separate and often harder to suppress.
6. Corsight — the watchlist engine
Different model entirely. Corsight doesn't run a public index; it sells the software, and each customer builds their own watchlist. Used by airports, sports venues, banks, and casinos for "person of interest" alerts. If your face is in someone's Corsight watchlist, you got there because that specific buyer added you.
Removal: there is no central opt-out. You have to identify the deploying customer (sometimes legally compelled to disclose, sometimes not) and demand removal from their watchlist specifically. Slow, jurisdiction-specific, often legal work.
7. EyeMatch.AI — the email-paired face search
Combines face search with breach-data correlation — upload a face, get back not just where it appears but the email addresses associated with those appearances. Smaller index than PimEyes / FaceCheck.ID but the email pairing makes it dangerous for stalking workflows.
Removal: email-based opt-out form. Lands in 2–3 weeks. They re-scrape, so refile cadence required.
What about the 40+ engines this list doesn't cover?
There are plenty more — Social Catfish, ClarityCheck, FindClone (Russia), Search4Faces (Russia / VK), Faces of the Frontier, and a long tail of regional or invite-only engines.
We track 47+ that accept opt-outs under GDPR, CCPA, UK DPA, PIPEDA, APP, APPI, PIPA, DPDP, LGPD, or PIPL — whichever covers you.
So which one should you opt out of first?
If you're prioritizing your own time:
- FaceCheck.ID and PimEyes — these are the two a random stranger would actually use against you. Highest immediate consumer risk.
- Clearview AI — if you live in the EU, UK, or Illinois. The biggest index means the most-cited match. Removal here has the biggest practical payoff for legal misidentification risk.
- Lenso.ai — easiest win. Permanent delisting; do it once, done.
- The other 43+ — work through them in monthly batches, refile when re-scrapes happen.
Seven indexes is the number that gets cited. The real number is closer to fifty.
Filing one removal yourself is doable. Filing fifty, every month, refiling on every re-scrape — that's the part nobody has time for. We do that part.
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