PimEyes, a facial recognition search engine that scans 900 million images across the internet, has been widely misused for stalking women, harassment, and unauthorized surveillance of individuals without their consent.
PimEyes is a facial recognition search engine launched in 2017 by Polish developers that can scan through more than 900 million images from across the internet to find matches with high accuracy. Unlike most facial recognition tools reserved for police or government use, PimEyes is available to anyone, with subscription packages starting at $29.99 per month for enhanced features. The tool has become popular among users on platforms like 4chan for stalking women, with subscribers offering to search photos of young girls and women pulled from social media accounts, dating profiles, or unauthorized 'creepshots.' The company claims users should only search for their own images, but enforces this rule only through a single checkbox that can be easily circumvented. The tool has been used to create comprehensive digital profiles of individuals, including teachers, by compiling photos from various online sources including personal information like home addresses and workplace details. PimEyes operates with anonymous leadership and is registered in the Seychelles to obscure ownership. The service also scans pornographic websites and has been used to find nonconsensual intimate images. While the company offers removal services, users must pay $79.99 monthly for complete blocking of their images from search results.
Domain classification, causal taxonomy, severity scores, and national security assessments were LLM-classified and may contain errors.
AI systems that memorize and leak sensitive personal data or infer private information about individuals without their consent. Unexpected or unauthorized sharing of data and information can compromise user expectation of privacy, assist identity theft, or cause loss of confidential intellectual property.
AI system
Due to a decision or action made by an AI system
Unintentional
Due to an unexpected outcome from pursuing a goal
Post-deployment
Occurring after the AI model has been trained and deployed