Owner of 'most disturbing website on internet' that can find every photo of you ever spoke out following backlash
Privacy is more of a concern than ever in 2025.
If it's not scammers getting hold of our bank details, it's our air fryers snooping on us.
Apple is embroiled in a court case over allegations that Siri has been listening to us, and if that wasn't enough, the dark web is a whole other version of the internet where your privacy could be sold to the highest bidder.
Although it's apparently a bit of an urban myth that we're caught on CCTV 300 times a day, it's thought that the figure sits at around 70 snaps a day without even realizing it.
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We've now got another reason to fear for our privacy, as one website can reveal everywhere your face appears on the internet.
There are already plenty of concerns about artificial intelligence wiping out the human race in less than two years, but until it goes full Skynet, it can be used to track us down online.
PimEyes is nothing new, but being described as the 'most disturbing website on the internet' is probably something its owner won't be putting in its endorsements section.
The basic premise of PimEyes is that you can upload a photo/photos of yourself and its AI technology will track down everywhere pictures of you can be found online.
It works in a similar way to Google's reverse image search, and while that's handy for those who want to keep tabs on where they're being talked about, there are worries that nefarious users could exploit it to stalk others.
Campaign groups including the United Kingdom's Big Brother Watch have shared their fears alongside privacy watchdogs in the US and Germany.
PimEyes was founded as a Polish startup in 2017, but under the leadership of Georgian academic Giorgi Gobronidze, he hopes to turn its public image around.
Speaking to German language outlet netzpolitik in 2022, Gobronidze vowed to make PimEyes 'less attractive' to stalkers. He told the site that he had his own concerns when he first took the reins to PimEyes: "When we acquired this project, I was very concerned, to put it mildly, because I know about the capacity of the technology."
You also have the option to 'opt-out' of the PimEyes database, saying that over 10,000 takedowns had already happened back then.
Gobronidze made a somewhat controversial comment when he clapped back saying: "If I am stalking someone I will do it with or without PimEyes. It is the user who is the stalker, not the search engine."
Still, he reiterated the 'suspicious' accounts will be banned: "Yes, we have to ensure that the risks are minimised, this is our responsibility. But there is also the responsibility of the user."
Although he's now placed PimEyes behind a paywall meaning it should put off some shady snoopers, there are still critics. The New York Times reports that it wasn't until October 2023 that PimEyes blocked the search for children's faces, and while it worked well on those under the age of 14, Gobronidze said it was having 'accuracy issues' with teenagers. Elsewhere, the Met Police in the UK banned PimEyes after a freedom of information request revealed it had been used on its computers 2,337 times in three months.
PimEyes is far from the only service like this that is out there, and with it, many are concerned about where they're unknowingly appearing or being searched for online.