StopNCII: How It Works and What It Can't Do
StopNCII explained: how the hash is made on your device, which platforms receive it, what it cannot reach and what to do when it is not enough.
StopNCII.org is a free tool that lets an adult stop their own intimate images from being uploaded to participating platforms. You select the image or video on your own device, the site turns it into a hash (a digital fingerprint), and only that fingerprint is sent. Partner platforms compare new uploads against it and review any match under their own rules. The image itself never leaves your device.
That design is the whole point, and the source of most misunderstandings. Because only a fingerprint travels, the service never receives your image. Because the fingerprint only works where a company has chosen to use it, it does not remove anything from the wider internet. StopNCII's own page says so in plain terms. It is a block on future uploads at participating companies, not a deletion service.
This guide explains what happens at each stage, in the order you will meet it, and where the tool stops. It describes the service as its own pages read for this guide: the how-it-works page, the FAQ and the partners page. It contains no detail on how images are made or found, only on response. Being targeted is not a failure on your part. This is information, not legal advice.
- StopNCII is for adults who appear in the image or video, have it on their device and were 18 or older in it. Only the person shown can open a case.
- The hash is made on your device. Only the hash is sent, and the service says it does not keep your image.
- It acts on participating platforms only, and it matches exact copies. A cropped, filtered or clipped version needs its own case.
- Keep your case number and PIN. The team cannot recover them, and without them you cannot check progress or withdraw.
- It does not replace reporting what is already online. Report live copies to each platform and search engine as well.
All three figures are from the StopNCII.org FAQ as read for this guide.
What StopNCII does, in plain terms
StopNCII creates a hash of each file you choose and shares that hash with participating companies, so they can detect and act on matching content. A hash is a short string of characters produced from the file by a formula. The same file always produces the same string.
Related readRemove Old Forum Post About Me: Who to Ask FirstThe FAQ says the hash for photos is made with PDQ or PhotoDNA, and for videos with MD5, and describes both as open industry standards. The practical meaning is simple. When someone uploads a file to a participating platform, the platform computes the same kind of fingerprint and compares it with the stored list. If they match, the platform reviews the upload against its intimate image abuse policy and acts. The how-it-works page adds that StopNCII keeps checking for matches on participating platforms periodically.
Three details matter. First, the home page says the service is run by the Revenge Porn Helpline, part of the charity SWGfL, and you can submit from anywhere in the world. The FAQ says it was developed by Meta and SWGfL and is not a government initiative. Second, the FAQ says StopNCII does not contact the police. Third, it is a prevention tool: the FAQ tells people whose images are already online to report them to the platforms first, then add them to StopNCII for future protection.
Who can use it, and why only you can open the case
You can use StopNCII if you are the person in the image, you still have the image or video, it is intimate, and you were 18 or older in it. The FAQ describes intimate images as showing people naked, in underwear, showing their genitals, in sexual activity or in certain poses. The home page adds that you must be over 18 today as well.
Two rules surprise people. A friend, partner or relative cannot submit for you. The FAQ says it can only accept hashes from the person in the content; a helper can encourage you to start or refer you to support services. And if you were under 18 in the image, even if you are an adult now, the FAQ sends you to the Take It Down service instead. That is a separate tool with its own rules.
Related readDMCA takedown notice: contents, steps, limitsOther people appearing in the image do not stop you. The FAQ says you can still hash it, whoever else is in it, if it was shared without consent. Manipulated and synthetic images are inside the definition too: if the image is of you, you have access to it and it is nude or semi-nude, you can hash it.
| Your situation | Can you open a case? | What the FAQ says to do |
|---|---|---|
| Adult, image on your device | Yes | Create a case and keep the number and PIN |
| Someone threatens to share your images | Yes, if you have the content | Create a case and contact a local support service |
| You only have screenshots | Yes | Remove borders without cropping the image itself |
| You were under 18 in the image | No | Use the Take It Down service |
| You are helping a friend | No, only the person shown | Encourage them to start and share support services |
| Image is of a different kind (clothed, no sexual content) | No, outside the criteria | Use platform reports and the support pages |
The process step by step, and what leaves your device
Here is the sequence as the how-it-works page describes it, with the FAQ details added where they change what you do.
- Select the filesChoose the images or videos on your device. The FAQ says you can hash up to 20 at a time and that common formats such as JPEG, PNG, MP4 and MOV are accepted.
- Let your device make the hashThe hash is created on your device. Only the hash is sent, not the image or video, which stays where it is.
- Receive the case number and set a PINYou get a case number when the case is created and you set a PIN. Write both down somewhere private. A lost pair is not recoverable.
- Partners check for matchesParticipating platforms compare uploads with the hash. A match that breaks their intimate image abuse policy is removed within their systems.
- Check or withdrawUse the case number and PIN to see the status, or to withdraw the case at any time.
The question most people ask is what the service knows about them. The FAQ says it does not collect or retain names, email addresses or phone numbers. You can ask for an email containing your case number, and that email address is kept for 3 days on a separate platform. IP addresses are kept in logs for up to 30 days and are not linked to your case. Only hashes are stored, partners can only access hashes, and you can delete the original from your device after hashing if you choose, because the hash remains.
Your images are not seen when the hash is created. The FAQ adds one honest point: a platform reviews matching content on its own platform to check it against its policies, so a reviewer there can see it.
What the hash catches and what it misses
The FAQ is direct about the technical limit. The tool detects exact matches, so cropping, filters or a clipped video may not match the original hash. If an edited version is the one circulating, it needs its own hash. It also tells you what to do when a copy slips through.
Related readRemove Arrest Record From Google: The Right OrderSeveral smaller rules follow from it.
- A video hash does not cover its thumbnail. The FAQ says to take a few screenshots of the video and hash them alongside it.
- Submit the version you want blocked. If you hold an original and an edited copy, submit only the one you want removed.
- One case, one batch. You cannot add images to an existing case. You must open a new one.
- Unsupported files fail. A hash can fail because of an unsupported format, a video too large for your browser or a technical error. The FAQ gives an email address for errors, which it says is not a support line for removals.
Which platforms receive your hash, and who does not
The partners page lists the companies that receive cases and hashes. As read for this guide, it named or linked these: Facebook, Instagram and Meta, Microsoft, TikTok, Reddit, OnlyFans, Pornhub, Snap, Playhouse, RedGifs, Patreon, ViVAstreet, X, F2F, Bluesky, FetLife, xVideos, Tik.Porn and Depop. The list mixes mainstream and adult platforms and can change, so read the live page before you rely on it.
The only statement about how a partner uses hashes is on Microsoft. The page says Microsoft uses validated StopNCII hashes in its Bing search engine and, as of May 2026, in its hosted consumer services. The page says nothing more about how any other partner uses them, so this guide does not either.
Search is worth a separate note. In a post dated September 17, 2025, Google said it would begin using StopNCII's hashes over the next few months to find and remove content that breaks its policy on non-consensual intimate imagery. The post gave no firm date and no detail on matching accuracy or appeals, and StopNCII's own home page does not mention Google. Treat Google's announcement as an addition to its existing tools, which include removal requests, not as a replacement for filing one.
The service does not cover everything else. The FAQ says hashing does not work on encrypted messaging, because the tool only covers public-facing platforms, and the how-it-works page says it cannot remove images from the whole internet. A site that is not on the partners list does not receive your hash.
Related readRemove Google autocomplete suggestions: what works| Where the content is | Does StopNCII reach it? | What reaches it instead |
|---|---|---|
| A partner platform, on a new upload | Yes, if the hash matches | A platform report for copies already there |
| A partner platform, already posted | Possibly through ongoing matching | Report it to the platform now |
| A site that is not a partner | No | The site's report form, then its host and registrar |
| An encrypted messaging chat | Generally no | The messaging service's report tool and the police if there is a threat |
| Search results pointing to a page | Only where the search engine uses the hashes | The search engine's own removal request |
What StopNCII does not do, and the claims to treat with care
The tool does not remove images from the whole internet. The how-it-works page says so itself. It does not give you a deletion from sites that are not partners, and it does not report the person who shared your image. It does not promise that every partner will remove every match: a platform removes a match only if it violates its intimate image abuse policy.
The home page says the Revenge Porn Helpline has a removal rate of over 90 percent and has removed more than 300,000 individual intimate images, and it gives no method for those numbers. They are the operator's own figures, and you should not read them as a prediction for your case. Outcomes depend on where your content sits and on each platform's review.
Withdrawing needs one warning. The FAQ says that withdrawing removes the whole case, and that companies may still enforce their policies once they have learned of the hash. Withdrawal is therefore a decision about your own case, not an instruction that erases what a platform has already acted on.
What to do alongside StopNCII when the images are already online
Hashing and reporting do different jobs, and you usually need both. A hash blocks a known file from coming back on partner platforms. A report asks a platform, a host or a search engine to take down what is there now. Do the reports first or in the same sitting; the FAQ's own order is to report to platforms first and add the images to StopNCII for future protection.
A sensible order for the first day:
Related readRemove images from Google Image search: what works- Keep a private list of each web address where the content appears, with the date, without saving or forwarding the files.
- Create the StopNCII case, and store the number and PIN.
- Report each live copy to the platform that hosts it, using its non-consensual imagery category.
- Ask search engines to stop listing the pages. Google's help page says you can request removal of sexual images or videos of yourself, real or fake, through its content removal form, that it tries to find and remove duplicates, and that removal applies only to its Search results, so the hosting site must be contacted separately.
- If the person demanding something is also threatening you, contact the police and a support service before anything else.
A realistic timeline, using an invented scenario
The timeline below is an invented scenario with generic parties, to show the order of events rather than to predict yours. Assume an adult whose former partner posted three intimate photos on a partner platform and a non-partner forum. The days are our experience of how files usually run, and the dashboard figure is from the FAQ.
| When | What happens | What the person does |
|---|---|---|
| Hour 1 | Evidence list begun; hash created on the device | Records addresses, stores case number and PIN |
| Day 1 | Reports filed to the partner platform and the forum host; search removal requested | Keeps a log of each report reference |
| Days 1 to 5 | Case dashboard updates, which the FAQ says can take 3 to 5 days | Checks the case status, does not open a duplicate case |
| Week 1 to 2 | Reports are usually answered; the non-partner forum often takes longer | Escalates to the forum's host and registrar if ignored |
| Later | A cropped version appears; it does not match the first hash | Hashes the cropped version in a new case |
In this scenario the hash protected the partner platform from the original files, the reports dealt with what was already posted, and the forum needed a separate route. No single tool did all three.
When StopNCII is not enough, and what to do next
The tool fails in a few predictable places, and each has an answer. If the image is on a site that is not a partner, report to the site and then to its host. If a copy was edited, hash the edited copy. If the content is in an encrypted chat, use that service's tools and consider the police when there is a threat. If you lost your case number and PIN, the FAQ is clear that they cannot be recovered, so you would need to open a new case.
There is also a limit that no tool can fix. Someone who already holds the original can upload it again from a new account, or share it in private. Hashing makes that harder on partner platforms, not impossible. That is why the work after a case is partly monitoring and partly support.
Start with safety and support, then create the case and report live copies the same day. If copies are spreading faster than you can file, a specialist team can handle the reporting and escalation for you, privately and without judgment.
Where a specialist helps, and what to expect from us
Most people can create a StopNCII case alone in a few minutes. The harder work is everything around it: tracking dozens of reports, finding the right host or registrar contact, handling refusals and keeping a record that a lawyer or the police can use. Reputation Partners handles that work as a removals practice, and we are clear about limits: we cannot make a platform comply, and no route removes every copy. We tell you which routes fit, in what order, and when a route will fail.
Related readRemove Bing Search Results: Every Microsoft RouteYour decisions stay yours: whether to involve the police, whether to speak to a lawyer and how much to share with us. We ask for the list of addresses, never the files.
Questions people ask
Is StopNCII safe to use?
The service says the hash is made on your device and only the hash is sent, not the image or video. It says it stores only hashes and does not keep your original. It collects no name, email or phone number, although an optional email for your case number is kept for 3 days. Read its privacy policy before you start.
Does StopNCII remove images from the internet?
No. Its how-it-works page states that it cannot remove images from the whole internet. It helps participating platforms detect matching uploads and remove those that break their policy. Anything on a site that does not take part, and anything in an encrypted chat, needs a separate report.
Can I use StopNCII for someone else, or if I was under 18?
No to both. The FAQ says only the person in the content can submit, and it does not accept images where you were under 18. Under-18s, and adults who were under 18 in the image, are directed to the Take It Down service. A friend can encourage you and share support services.
What happens if I lose my case number or PIN?
Nothing can be recovered. The FAQ says case numbers, PINs and hashes cannot be recovered, and that requests of that kind receive no response. Without them you cannot check progress or withdraw the case. You can start a new case for the same files, but keep the new details somewhere private and safe.
Does a hash work if the image is edited?
Not reliably. The FAQ says matching detects exact copies, so cropping, filters or clipped videos may not match the original hash. The edited version needs its own hash, in a new case. A video also does not cover its thumbnail, so the FAQ suggests hashing a few screenshots of the video as well.
Will a hash reach search results?
It depends on the search engine. The partners page says Microsoft uses validated hashes in Bing. Google said in a September 2025 post that it would begin using the hashes over the following months, with no firm date. In every case, ask the search engine to delist the specific pages as well.
