What to do when you find compromising pictures of you published online

The following is an action plan or guide as to what to do when you fine compromising (or intimate, personal) pictures or videos of you published on the internet

Disclaimer: We want to be completely clear about the goal of this guide. It is to provide the advice and a list of instructions to anyone in this situation. Regardless if they use our service or not. The takedown case staff at DMCA.com help people that find themselves the victims of having their very personal and intimate picture uploaded online by accident, intentionally or worse because of revenge posting. We can help, we have years of experience, we know what you, or someone you know, are going through. If you wish you can click here and get help right now DMCA.com Professional Takedown Service
However you do not have to sign up to our service to get advice. The ultimate goal of this guide is to provide an action plan of help. It is meant to help you, or someone you know, with this kind of situation. The intent is that you or someone you know can get the right instructions on what to do when they find themselves in this situation.
Please, share the link above if you know someone that needs help. Share the text. Copy and paste - whatever works best for you.

Do's and Don'ts

Don't

1. Don't Panic. Respond quickly. Faster the better. Be confident. Get help.
2. Do not become a victim of extortion!
3. Do not send money or
4. Do not send a picture of your ID to hosting companies or website owners in order to get your content removed.
   1. Note: This is a serious act of privacy violation and not required within any takedown process, anywhere. Very often it leads to further extortion and violations. If you are required to pay to have your content taken offline, by the party that is hosting the content, it is extortion or a bribe under law. If you must pay or follow some other bizarre process to have your content taken offline do so with a lawyer, inform the police and where possible have an internet specialist with you.

Do's

1. Respond quickly. Faster the better.
2. Be confident.
3. Get help. Parents, Guardians, lawyers, friends or DMCA.com. Remember, if you are underage or were underage when the pictures or videos were taken there may be other issues involved with the content removal. At DMCA.com we have a very transparent underage policy in dealing with content containing minors. Make sure whoever you work with understands the specifics of this content.
4. Contact the police - especially if
   1. you or the person in the picture or video were underage
   2. the perpetrator of this crime is known to you and you never gave permission for the pictures to be shared.
   3. Note: Often the authorities can help with the perpetrators of the crime but are unable to act if the photos / video has been uploaded to servers located outside their legal jurisdiction. Be prepared to deal with getting your pictures / video taken down as a separate issue.
5. Find as many copies and versions of the pictures or video as you can. You are the best person to identify this content. Often it will be cropped or altered in some way. You are the best person to identify this content the quickest.
6. Make a list. Stolen and posted content spreads like a weed. If you can get at the source you can stop or slow it from spreading. Often only one website was the source of the uploaded picture or video. It is important to get it removed from the source site then move on to the other sites if there are any.
   1. It is wrong to assume that once your photo or video is off one (facebook) page the issue is resolved. It could have been copied and uploaded somewhere else. The longer the content has been up the more likely it has spread to other networks and websites.
7. Begin Processing (DMCA) Takedowns immediately! Faster the better. Do it now! Staying on top of getting your content taken down means you can stop or slow the spread. You can conduct takedowns yourself (DMCA.com has a very inexpensive DIY Program), use a lawyer or use a service like DMCA.com Professional Takedown Service. Regardless of the method you use, the quicker the better. Processing takedown can also help any legal action you have started or will start later. If you choose to conduct the process yourself here are a few important tips:
   1. Follow the (DMCA) Takedown process of website where you have found the pictures or video exactly. If the website has it's own policy follow that.
   2. do NOT be emotional in your description or request for removal
   3. do NOT tell a story or give background or incident details
   4. clearly the state facts related to the photo or picture usage - its your picture, or you are in it and you did not give permission to be used in this manner or you own the copyright.

If you have questions about your situation, we can help. Submit your takedown questions here: www.dmca.com/question. Be as detailed as possible. Include as many links as possible. Include complete details on content ownership and source.