47+ Facial Recognition Databases Your Face Is Probably In (2026)

TL;DR

There are dozens of facial recognition databases operating worldwide. Some are consumer-facing (PimEyes, FaceCheck.ID). Others are used by law enforcement (Clearview AI, NEC). Many are invisible to you entirely — deployed in retail stores, airports, and social platforms. This guide catalogs the ones that matter in 2026.

How This List Was Built

We focus on active, notable facial recognition databases as of 2026. "Notable" means at least one of:

Publicly accessible to consumers or investigators
Known deployment by law enforcement, government, or major corporations
Significant user base or media/regulatory attention
Ongoing legal disputes or privacy settlements

We've classified each by category and indicated whether meaningful opt-out exists. "Limited" means opt-out is theoretically possible but heavily restricted. "Partial" means you can control some data but not all.

Opt-out available Partial / limited No opt-out

🔍 Consumer Face Search Engines critical risk

Anyone with a credit card can use these to search for faces.

PimEyes

The most widely known face search engine. Indexes hundreds of millions of faces from the public web.

FaceCheck.ID

Reverse-face-search tool marketed to check dates and catch catfishes. Indexes social media.

Precheck.ai

Positions as a "background check" service; reverse-image face search with identity lookup.

Eagle Eye Search

Less-known but accessible face search engine with broad web indexing.

Search4Faces

Russia-based; searches VK, Instagram, and other social platforms.

FindClone

Specifically searches VKontakte and Russian social media. No longer accepting new users but data persists.

Public Face Search

Aggregates from multiple smaller engines; sold as API to investigators.

🏛️ Law Enforcement & Government high risk

Used by police, ICE, FBI, and federal agencies — often without your knowledge.

Clearview AI

Scraped 100+ billion faces from social media. Used by 3,100+ US law enforcement agencies. Settled multiple lawsuits.

NEC NeoFace

Deployed in airports, border crossings, and by national police forces across 70+ countries.

Idemia (formerly Safran/Morpho)

FBI's Next Generation Identification (NGI) contractor. Powers US state DMV face databases.

Paravision

Top-performing face recognition per NIST. Used by DHS, DOD, and allied governments.

Rank One Computing

Used by US law enforcement agencies for mugshot matching and real-time ID.

Cognitec FaceVACS

German vendor; deployed in European airports and police databases.

Herta Security

European face recognition for stadiums, airports, and smart cities.

Thales Gemalto

Biometric identity for national ID programs in dozens of countries.

🏢 Corporate & Enterprise high risk

Sold to businesses for access control, workforce management, or customer tracking.

Amazon Rekognition

AWS's face recognition service. Used by AWS customers at massive scale. Paused for law enforcement after 2020 moratorium.

Microsoft Azure Face API

Enterprise face recognition. Restricted for law enforcement; still widely used corporate.

Google Cloud Vision

Face detection and attribute analysis. Not identity lookup by default, but stores processed data.

IBM (discontinued public access)

IBM exited general-purpose face recognition in 2020 but enterprise contracts persist.

Face++ (Megvii)

Chinese giant; powers face unlock for Alipay, Didi, and Chinese Government surveillance.

SenseTime

Chinese unicorn; massive deployment in smart cities and enterprise security. US-sanctioned.

Corsight AI

Israeli company; marketed to security forces and businesses. Controversial global expansion.

AnyVision / Oosto

Rebranded after controversies; used in retail, stadiums, and (reportedly) West Bank checkpoints.

🛒 Retail & Physical Security medium risk

Cameras in stores, malls, stadiums, and venues. You don't sign up — you're just enrolled.

Facewatch

UK retail face recognition; shares "suspect" lists between stores. Accuracy and bias concerns.

Blue Line Technology

Used by US retail chains; tracks "known shoplifters" via face.

Verkada

Cloud-connected security cameras with face recognition. Breached in 2021 exposing 150,000 cameras.

BriefCam (Canon)

Video analytics platform with face recognition. Deployed in cities, airports, malls.

Avigilon (Motorola)

Used by corporations and municipalities for face search in video archives.

Hikvision

Chinese camera manufacturer; ~50% of the world's surveillance cameras. US-sanctioned.

Dahua

Second largest camera maker globally; similar sanctions and concerns as Hikvision.

Axis Communications

Swedish camera manufacturer; face recognition in enterprise security systems.

Panasonic FacePRO

Face recognition integrated into Panasonic security camera ecosystems.

SAFR (RealNetworks)

Real-time face recognition for retail, schools, and transit.

🔐 Biometric Authentication medium risk

KYC, airport boarding, gig economy verification — your face becomes your identity.

Yoti

UK identity verification; used for age verification in porn sites, liquor sales, and gig platforms.

Jumio

KYC identity verification for fintech, crypto, and gaming. Stores biometric templates.

Veriff

Estonia-based identity verification. Powers onboarding for many fintech apps.

FaceTec

3D face liveness and match. Used in many KYC pipelines.

iProov

UK face verification; used by IRS, NHS, Singapore govt, and fintechs.

Onfido

UK KYC/identity; used by Revolut, Uber, Zipcar, and hundreds of fintech platforms.

Clear (airport)

Voluntary — but enrolls your face permanently for biometric airport access.

TSA Facial Recognition

Rolling out at US airports. Officially optional. Photos "not retained" per policy.

⚡ Specialized & Emerging medium risk

Newer entrants and niche players — some of the fastest-growing databases.

Facia.ai

Fast-growing face biometric platform for KYC and liveness detection.

Kairos

Face recognition API; marketed to developers and enterprises.

Trueface.ai

Computer vision for security, retail, and workforce analytics.

Ever AI (now Paravision)

Was one of the most accurate face rec engines; acquired and rebranded.

Aware Biometrics

US-based biometric software vendor; supplies gov and commercial customers.

Neurotechnology

Lithuanian biometric company; works in 150+ countries, including national ID programs.

Ayonix

Japanese face recognition for smart cities and enterprise.

Vision-Box

Specializes in airport/border biometrics, working with 100+ airports.

What You Can Actually Do About This

Reading this list can feel overwhelming. The truth is:

The Bad News

Most databases have no consumer opt-out
Opt-out from one doesn't affect the others
New databases appear every year
Re-indexing happens constantly

The Good News

GDPR, CCPA, and BIPA give you legal rights
Regulators are increasingly aggressive
Consumer-facing databases can be removed
Specialized services can automate this

Priority Order for Removal

If you're going to DIY this, here's the order we recommend:

Consumer face search engines

PimEyes, FaceCheck.ID, Precheck.ai — anyone can search here. Highest personal risk. Start with our PimEyes removal guide.

Clearview AI

Has the largest face database in the world. Used by 3,100+ law enforcement agencies. Limited but possible opt-out.

Social media

Disable face recognition in Facebook, Google Photos, TikTok. These are under your account control.

GDPR/CCPA requests to the rest

Submit formal data subject requests to Corsight, AnyVision, Precheck.ai, and similar services. They must respond within 30 days.

Why This Is Basically Impossible to Do Alone

Manually removing yourself from 56+ databases means:

Filling out 56+ different opt-out forms
Submitting your ID to 56+ different companies
Drafting legal requests in different formats for different jurisdictions
Tracking 56+ response timelines
Re-checking every 30–90 days for re-indexing
Staying current as new databases emerge

Nobody has the time. That's why most people — even privacy-conscious people — simply don't do it.

Or you can let us handle it

FacePrivacy.ai submits removal requests across all major facial recognition databases on your behalf. One signup, one reference photo, ongoing coverage.

Start Removal →

Use code PRECHECK for 15% off your first month.

Updates to This List

Facial recognition is a fast-moving industry. We update this page quarterly as new databases emerge, old ones shut down, and regulatory actions change the landscape. Last updated: April 16, 2026.

Notice a database we missed? Email us at [email protected].

47+ Facial Recognition Databases Your Face Is Probably In