Old phones sold on secondhand markets, handed to repair shops, left with an ex-partner, or simply lost are a common source of non-consensual image distribution. Buyers of secondhand phones sometimes find and share private photos from previous owners. Repair technicians occasionally copy or distribute photos from devices brought in for service. Ex-partners may retain access to old shared devices or cloud accounts.

The age of the photos does not affect your rights. ScanErase focuses on the non-consensual publication of intimate images, not when those images were originally created. Photos taken years or decades ago are protected in the same way as recent photos.

ScanErase's biometric scanning identifies your images wherever they have been posted, regardless of the source. Once your images are located across the indexed web, you can see every match found in your exposure report. Your documentation can support a report to law enforcement if you know who accessed your old device and shared your images.

What to do right now

  1. Run a biometric scanScanErase searches 2.4 billion indexed face embeddings for your likeness regardless of when the images were taken.
  2. See resultsDiscover where your photos may be online.
  3. Report to the platform where the phone was sold if applicableMarketplaces like eBay and Facebook Marketplace can assist in cases of shared private content found on secondhand devices.
  4. Report to law enforcementSharing intimate images from a device without authorization may violate state NCII statutes and device theft laws.
  5. Secure your current devices and accountsChange passwords, enable two-factor authentication, and review shared account access to prevent future incidents.