Our Responsibility

Corporate Social Responsibility

Facial recognition is a powerful technology. We believe the companies building it have a duty to ensure it serves people — not the other way around. This document outlines how Protevio AI upholds that duty.

Version February 10th, 2026

Ethical Use of Facial Recognition

Protevio AI exists for one purpose: to empower individuals to protect their own digital identity. Our facial recognition search technology is designed to help people discover where their photos appear online, detect unauthorized use of their images, and take action to protect their privacy.

We are committed to ensuring our technology is never used to harm, stalk, harass, or surveil individuals. To uphold this commitment, we enforce strict usage policies and actively monitor for abuse.

We only index publicly available images from the open web
We do not provide services to governments for mass surveillance
We actively detect and terminate accounts engaged in harassment or stalking
We never sell or share facial recognition data with third parties

Privacy by Design

Privacy is not a feature we added — it is a foundational principle of how Protevio AI is built. Every system, process, and decision is evaluated through the lens of user privacy.

🔒 Data Minimization
We collect only the minimum data required to provide our service. Uploaded search photos are processed in memory and are never permanently stored. We do not build profiles of our users or track their search behavior for commercial purposes.
🗑️ Right to Removal
Any individual who finds their face in our database can request removal. We process opt-out requests promptly and free of charge. We also provide tools — including our PROtect plans — that allow users to proactively manage and remove their images from external websites.
🇪🇺 GDPR Compliance
Protevio AI is fully compliant with the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). We respect Article 17 (Right to Erasure), Article 15 (Right of Access), and Article 21 (Right to Object). As a company operating from Belgium, EU data protection law is at the core of our operations.

Transparency & Accountability

We believe users have the right to understand how our technology works, what data we process, and how decisions are made. We are committed to clear, honest communication about our practices.

How our indexing works: Protevio crawls publicly available photography from the open web. We do not access private accounts, password-protected content, or data behind paywalls. Our crawlers respect robots.txt directives and honor opt-out requests from website operators.

How search works: When you upload a photo, our AI creates a temporary mathematical representation of the face (an embedding). This embedding is compared against our database. The uploaded photo itself is discarded after processing — we do not retain it.

What we don't do: We do not identify individuals by name. Our system finds visually similar faces — it does not connect them to real identities, social media accounts, or personal information unless that information is publicly visible on the source website.

Combating Misuse & Abuse

We recognize that facial recognition technology carries risks of misuse. Protevio AI takes a proactive approach to preventing abuse of our platform.

⚠️ Anti-Stalking Measures
Our systems include behavioral analysis to detect patterns consistent with stalking or harassment. Accounts flagged for suspicious activity are reviewed and, when warranted, permanently suspended. We cooperate with law enforcement when required by law to address criminal misuse.
🛡️ Rate Limiting & Access Controls
All search endpoints are rate-limited to prevent mass surveillance or scraping. Free accounts are limited to prevent automated abuse. We require email verification for all accounts and monitor for coordinated inauthentic behavior.
📋 Terms of Service Enforcement
Our Terms of Service explicitly prohibit using Protevio to stalk, harass, threaten, or discriminate against any individual. Violations result in immediate account termination and, where appropriate, reporting to the relevant authorities.

Supporting Victims of Image Abuse

Protevio AI was built with victims in mind. We understand that unauthorized distribution of someone's photos — whether through catfishing, non-consensual intimate imagery, or identity theft — causes real harm.

We are committed to supporting affected individuals through free search access for victims of documented image abuse, expedited removal processing for non-consensual intimate imagery found through our platform, evidence documentation tools (PDF reports) that can be used in legal proceedings, and educational resources through our blog, including guides on GDPR rights, takedown procedures, and legal options.

If you are a victim of image abuse and need help, please contact us at [email protected] with the subject line "Victim Support" for prioritized assistance.

Responsible AI Development

We hold ourselves to high standards in how we develop and deploy AI systems.

Bias awareness — We continuously evaluate our models for demographic bias and work to ensure fair accuracy across all ethnicities, genders, and age groups
Human oversight — Automated systems flag potential issues, but critical decisions about account suspensions and content removals involve human review
Continuous improvement — We regularly audit our systems, update our models, and refine our policies based on real-world feedback and evolving best practices
Security first — All data is encrypted in transit and at rest. Our infrastructure is hardened against unauthorized access, with strict firewall rules and access controls

Digital Privacy Education

We believe that awareness is the first line of defense. Protevio AI is committed to educating the public about digital privacy risks, facial recognition technology, and the tools available to protect personal data.

Through our blog, we publish free, in-depth guides on topics including how to find where your photos appear online, exercising your GDPR right to erasure, protecting yourself from catfishing and identity theft, and understanding how facial recognition technology works.

We are committed to making this knowledge accessible to everyone — not just our paying customers.

Protevio AI will continue to evolve its CSR commitments as the technology landscape and regulatory frameworks develop. We welcome feedback from our users, privacy advocates, regulators, and the broader public.

Questions about our CSR commitments?

We're open to dialogue about our practices, policies, and responsibilities. Reach out to our team anytime.

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