What to Do If Someone Leaks Your Intimate Photos

You do not have to solve the whole internet today. Start with your safety, the links you already know, and one removal request. Someone sharing your intimate images without permission is not your fault.

First: protect yourself

If someone is threatening you or you feel unsafe, contact local emergency services or someone you trust. For confidential support, use the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative. Avoid paying an extortion demand or sending more images in exchange for a promise of deletion.

If the images were taken when you were under 18, use NCMEC Take It Down and the CyberTipline. Do not download, forward, or screenshot sexual imagery involving a minor. Take It Down can create a fingerprint from a file already on your device without uploading it. IntimaShield's paid removal service is for adult content.

Keep the information you already have

  • Copy the full page or album links, rather than only the website's homepage.
  • Keep threatening messages, usernames, dates, and report receipts somewhere private and secure.
  • If an account may be compromised, secure its email account, change the password, review signed-in devices, and enable multi-factor authentication.
  • Avoid repeatedly searching explicit sites. You can start a removal review with known links; you do not need to locate every copy first.

Don't file removal requests in your own name

Each website has its own rules for intimate-image reports, and the wrong report can cost you. A copyright (DMCA) notice is a separate process for copyright owners, and the contact details in it can be passed on to the person who posted the content. Being in an image does not automatically mean you own it.

Keep the links instead. Under the TAKE IT DOWN Act, covered platforms must act on valid requests within 48 hours and make reasonable efforts to remove known identical copies. A receipt alone does not mean the content was removed.

Search results are a separate step

Google and Bing can remove intimate images shared without consent from their search results. Search removal reduces discoverability; it does not delete the source page, so the website and the search result are tracked separately.

Adults who have the original files can also consider StopNCII. Its participating platforms use digital fingerprints to identify matching content. It does not cover the whole internet or guarantee that altered copies will be detected.

Get help with removal

When you send us the links, we file the removal request on each site and the search removal requests as your authorized representative. When a site ignores the request, we go to the companies it depends on, such as its network provider, hosting company and domain registrar, and we keep following up while the content stays up.

IntimaShield handles authorized removal requests, applicable escalation for non-compliant sites, and a private record of the work. Emergency Takedown starts at $499 one-time for 1–5 unique domains. You see the scope and price before paying. Ongoing discovery of new copies is a separate Shield subscription.

What should I expect next?

We look for a response to each request and check the source URL. A blocked page, a temporary error, or a Google delisting is not automatically confirmed source removal. If you find a new copy later, keep its URL with the original case records.

For the longer process, read how removal works across different sites or how IntimaShield handles a case.

Help for the site hosting your content

If you already know where the content appears, these pages explain which links to keep and how to request a scope review: