How Can I Remove Stolen Private Pictures?

DMCA.com handles cases every day where someone has found their personal private picture(s) online. Often stolen from email, phones, laptops or even cameras these pictures find end up on a website without your permission. If this has happened to you, we can help. DMCA.com has been very successful at getting this kind of infringement taken down from most of the popular adult websites on the internet. If someone has gained access to your email, computer files, smartphone or camera and published them on the internet without your permission DMCA.com can get them removed.

What can you do when private pictures are posted online?

1. Don't Panic. Respond quickly. The faster the better. Be confident. Get help.
2. Contact the police - especially if:
1. You or the person in the picture or video were underage.
2. The perpetrator of this crime is known to you and you never gave permission for the pictures to be shared.
3. Note: Often the authorities can help with the perpetrators of the crime but are unable to act if the photos/videos have been uploaded to servers located outside their legal jurisdiction. Be prepared to deal with getting your pictures/videos taken down as a separate issue.
3. Do not become a victim of extortion! Do not send money or a picture of your ID to hosting companies or website owners in order to get your content removed. This is a serious act of privacy violation and not required within any takedown process, anywhere. If you must pay to have your content taken offline it is extortion or a bribe under most laws. If you must pay or follow some other bizarre process to have your content taken offline do so with a lawyer, inform the police and where possible, have an internet specialist with you. Do not pay money to anyone - do not give in to blackmail. If you pay them once they will come back again and again.
4. Find as many copies and versions as you can. You are the best person to identify this content. Often it will be cropped or altered in some way so often you can identify it the quickest. Make a list. Like a weed if you can get at the source, you can stop it from spreading. Often only one website was the source of the uploaded picture or video. It is important to get it removed from there and move on to the other sites, if there are any.
1. It's wrong to assume that once your photo or video is off one website the issue is resolved. It could have been copied and uploaded somewhere else. The longer the content has been up the more likely it has spread to other networks and websites.
5. Begin Processing (DMCA) Takedowns immediately! The faster the better. Do it now! Staying on top of getting your content taken down means you can stop or slow the spread. You can conduct takedowns yourself (DMCA.com has a very inexpensive DIY Program), use a lawyer or use a service like DMCA.com Professional Takedown Service. Regardless of the method you use, the quicker the better. Processing takedown can also help any legal action you have started or will start later. If you choose to conduct the process yourself here are a few important tips:
1. Follow the (DMCA) Takedown process of website where you have found the pictures or video exactly. If the website has its own policy follow that.
2. Do not be emotional in your description or request for removal.
3. Do not tell a story or give background or incident details.
4. Clearly the state facts related to the photo or picture usage - it's your picture, or you are in it and you did not give permission to be used in this manner or you own the copyright.
5. Stop the source. Find out where the content came from and make sure no more theft of your pictures can occur. If the content is on your email, mobile, camera, laptop etc. make sure to remove access to the internet. If someone has gained access to your mobile or cell phone, email, computer files, GoPro, camera or iCloud storage and published your nude pictures on the internet without your permission change your passwords and remove the content.

If you have questions about your situation, we can help. Submit your takedown questions here: www.bcehpool.com/question. Be as detailed as possible. Include as many links as possible. Include complete details on content ownership and source.

What is a DMCA Takedown?

When content is removed from a website at the request of the owner of the content. The DMCA Takedown is a well accepted internet standard followed by website owners and internet service providers everywhere. Any owner of content has the right to process a takedown notice against a website owner and/or an Online Service Provider (e.g. ISP, hosting company etc.) if the content owner's property is found online without their permission.

DMCA Fast Tip

Even though the DMCA is part of US Copyright law, a DMCA Takedown does not always require the content to be copyrighted in order to process a takedown notice and for the content to be taken down. The fact the content is yours, or if the subject in the photo or video is you, can be reason enough to process a takedown notice AND for the content to be taken down.

How long will it take to complete the Takedown form?

The DMCA.com Takedown claim form takes about 3 minutes to fill out. We do the rest for you. Our goal at DMCA.com is to make the process as fast and easy as possible.

How long until my private pictures are taken down?

The length of time for the content to be taken down from a website can be hours or days. It depends on the site and conditions of the takedown notice.

One of the advantages of using a professional company like DMCA.com is experience and expertise in building and processing takedown notices.

1. Experience means - the team is familiar with the site where your content is located and will know what it takes to get the content removed quickly.
2. Expertise means - getting it right the first time. It is critical to get notice process right the first time to not waste time in the getting the content removed.

If you need answers about time, simply add a note to ask your takedown professional to provide you an estimate of the time it will take to get your content down.

What do I need to provide to have my private pictures removed?

Three main pieces of information are needed to get started filing a DMCA Takedown Notice:

1. Infringing URL

Where on the internet (or platform like Facebook or TikTok) is your stolen content located? What is the link that you want the content removed from? Be sure to provide the URL or website/webpage link of the content you want removed. If the stolen content is an image or video located on a website provide the direct link of the content contained in the site. Copy and paste the infringing text, or provide the URL of the infringing image if required.

An example link would look like: https://www.badguy_site.com/webpage/image_2

2. Source URL

Where was your content located when it was stolen? Was it on you social media profile like Facebook or Reddit? Was it from your own website? Provide the exact URL where it was stolen from, even if the content has already been removed from it's original location. The original URL is still valuable to the notice. If it was not online you can reference cell phone, computer, or camera etc. If it was online such as a website or cloud storage provide the link to the exact page it was stolen from. You can upload the original content to a cloud storage service and provide that URL with an expalanation of where it was originally stolen from.

An example link would look like: https://share.icloud.com/photos/my_original_content

3. Description of Ownership

What is the content owner's name and how was the content stolen? How is this content yours? How do you own it? Did you create it, buy it, copyright it? Who is claiming ownership of the content? Who is authorized to file the DMCA Takedown? When did you create the content and when was the content stolen?

An example description would sound like: "My photo I took of myself on my camera was stolen from my Google Drive and was posted on this website without my knowledge and I would like it removed."

If you are unsure how to collect the information for these three categories the Professional Takedown Team at DMCA.com can help with the answers. Click here to ask us about your situation.

DMCA Takedown Testimonial

DMCA is the best decision I've made, to remove images that effected my life emotionally and mentally. With great service, I was able to get infringing urls removed as soon as possible with no hassles. The staff is very helpful and to my knowledge, they are very understandable about the situation that I was in. The service made my money worth it. Very satisfied and I recommend it to anyone who's in need of help of removing inappropriate content. -M.C.

What if my private pictures are on more than one website?

Most takedown notices contain several websites or platforms. Our takedown signup form has all the space you need to add as many links as you want.

Our team is familiar with the process of multiple website takedown notices. They will help guide you through what you need to do and know.

If there is one site in particular that is of the most concern for you make sure and highlight that when you sign up for your takedown. It will help the team prioritize the work they need to do for you case.

What if I don't have the original pictures?

Not having the original pictures can make the issue more complex, however it is a common problem.

Our team is familiar with the process of missing source information for takedown notices. They will help guide you through what you need to do and fix.

Please clearly indicate why this information is not available to add to your takedown form.

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