Privacy Policy

This policy explains our data practices in plain language. It is provided for transparency and is not a substitute for legal advice about your specific situation or jurisdiction.

Who we are

Face Search (https://www.facesearch.id) is a reverse face search service. This policy covers the personal information we collect when you visit our site, create an account, run a search, or buy a credit package. It applies to every locale and language version of the site.

Information we collect

Photos and search inputs

When you upload a photo to run a search, we process it to detect a face and generate a facial encoding used to look for visual matches. For free, low-fidelity searches this happens on our own infrastructure. For paid searches, the photo is sent to our search processor, FaceCheck.id, which performs the actual index lookup and returns candidate matches. We do not retain the uploaded image file itself once your search has completed and results have been returned to you, and it is never used to train a recognition model, ours or FaceCheck.id’s.

Account information

Face Search accounts are identified by email address - we don’t require a username, phone number, or government ID. We store your email, your remaining credit balance, and a record of your past orders and searches (timestamps and outcome, not the source images) so we can maintain your account and help with support requests.

Payment information

All payments are processed by Stripe. When you buy a credit package we redirect you to a Stripe-hosted checkout; we receive confirmation that payment succeeded and the order details, but we never see or store your full card number, CVC, or bank credentials. Stripe maintains its own privacy policy governing how it handles payment data.

Usage and device data

Like most web services, we automatically log basic technical data - IP address, browser type, device type, pages visited, and approximate location derived from IP - for security, fraud prevention, and to understand how the site is used in aggregate. We use privacy-conscious analytics and do not build cross-site advertising profiles from this data.

How we use your information

• Run the face search you request and return results to you.
• Create and maintain your account, including your credit balance and order history.
• Process payments and issue refunds when eligible.
• Respond to support requests and investigate reported abuse.
• Detect and prevent fraud, abuse, and violations of our terms of service.
• Maintain and improve the reliability and security of the service.

We do not use your photos or search history for advertising, and we do not build behavioral profiles for third-party marketing.

Who we share data with

We do not sell personal data. We share the minimum data necessary with a small number of processors who help us run the service:

• FaceCheck.id - receives the photo you submit for a paid search, in order to perform the underlying matching and return candidate results.
• Stripe - receives payment and billing details necessary to process your purchase and prevent fraud.
• Hosting and infrastructure providers - store and serve the application and its data on our behalf, under contractual confidentiality obligations.

We may also disclose information if required by law, subpoena, or valid legal process, or to protect the safety of a user or the public - for example, in response to a credible report of stalking or harassment involving the platform. See our ethics and privacy page for how we handle misuse reports.

Cookies

We use a small number of essential cookies to keep you signed in and remember your session, plus privacy-respecting analytics cookies to understand aggregate traffic patterns. We do not use third-party advertising or cross-site tracking cookies. You can block cookies in your browser settings, though this may affect core functionality like staying logged in.

Data retention

Uploaded photos are processed transiently and are not retained once your search completes. Account records (email, credit balance, order and search metadata) are kept for as long as your account is active, and for a limited period afterward to satisfy tax, accounting, fraud-prevention, and legal obligations. If you ask us to delete your account, we remove what we can immediately and purge the remainder on a routine schedule, except where we are required to retain records by law.

Data security

We use industry-standard safeguards - encryption in transit (HTTPS/TLS), access controls limiting who on our team can view account data, and least-privilege access to our infrastructure - to protect your information. No online service can guarantee absolute security, and you should use a unique, strong approach to any account credentials tied to your email.

Your rights and choices

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, export, or delete the personal data we hold about you, and to object to certain processing. You can exercise any of these rights by emailing team@facesearch.id from your account’s email address. We will verify your request and respond within a reasonable time, generally no more than 30 days.

Children’s privacy

Face Search is not directed at children and is not intended for use by anyone under 18. We do not knowingly collect information from minors, and uploading photos of minors to identify or locate them is a violation of our terms. If you believe a minor has provided us with personal data, contact us and we will delete it.

International data

We and our processors (including hosting and payment infrastructure) may operate servers in multiple countries. By using Face Search, you understand that your data may be processed outside your country of residence, subject to the safeguards described in this policy.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as our practices or the law change. Material changes will be reflected by updating the “last reviewed” date at the top of this page. Continued use of Face Search after a change means you accept the revised policy.

Contact us

Questions about this policy or a data request: email team@facesearch.id, or visit our contact page. For our broader stance on responsible use and where matches come from, see ethics and privacy.