Private albums: 18+ and zero tolerance

Consenting adults are left alone

We don't monitor or interfere with private sharing between consenting adults. If you're 18 or older and share private, intimate moments with another adult who wants them, that's between the two of you. We don't browse, judge or moderate those albums.

We act when an album is reported to us, or when we otherwise learn of illegal content. Then everything below applies, in full.

18+ only

You must be 18 or older to make, send or open a private album.

Private albums may only show adults who consented to being photographed or filmed and to that content being shared with the people you send it to.

No minors. Ever. Not in a photo, not in a video, not in the background, not "as a joke", not "edited", not AI-generated.

The first time you create or open a private album, you confirm you're 18 or older (and, when creating, that everyone shown is 18+ and consented). We keep a permanent record of that confirmation, including the time, your device and your IP address.

Zero tolerance

• Child sexual abuse material (CSAM) of any kind, including drawn, edited, computer-generated or AI-generated images of minors.
• Non-consensual intimate imagery: anything taken, shared or faked without the clear consent of every person in it, including "deepfakes".
• Sextortion, blackmail and threats, including threatening to share someone's intimate images.
• Recording someone intimately without their consent, or without them knowing.
• Harassment and stalking.
• Trafficking and coercion: pressuring, paying or forcing anyone into making or sharing intimate content.
• Impersonation to get intimate images: pretending to be someone else, or someone you're not.
• Any other illegal content where you or the people you share with are.

No warnings. No second chances. We lock the album and permanently ban your device from private albums: no making them, no opening them. We preserve the evidence and report you to law enforcement, and to NCMEC whenever a child is involved.

Reports

Illegal content is prohibited. Reported albums are locked and preserved, and child exploitation is reported to NCMEC and police.

Anyone who receives a private album can report it from inside the app or on the album's page. A reported album is locked immediately, preserved and handed to law enforcement. "Private" means private from other people. It does not mean hidden from the law.

Reporting to law enforcement

When we learn of apparent child sexual abuse material, we are required by US federal law (18 U.S.C. § 2258A) to report it to NCMEC's CyberTipline, and we do. NCMEC makes those reports available to police in the United States and around the world.

The moment an album is reported, we preserve it and the records we hold about it: its photos and videos, the sender and recipient names attached to it, the hashed phone numbers of the person who made it and the people it was sent to, the message sent with it, when it was made and opened, the device IDs of the phones that made and opened it, and the IP addresses from their 18+ confirmations. We provide them to NCMEC and law enforcement, and cooperate with investigations and prosecutions. For an album we locked while it was still live, that includes its photos and videos, without waiting for a court order.

Expiring won't save you once reported. A preserved album is kept, whatever its timer says.

Expired albums & court orders

Expired doesn't mean erased. When an album's timer runs out, no one can open it again, not the sender and not the people it was sent to. But we keep it locked on our servers for 30 days to preserve evidence of illegal activity, then delete it for good. A reported album is kept for as long as the case needs it.

While an album is locked we keep its photos and videos and its trail: who made it, who it was shared with and who opened it.

We only unlock it for a court order. When we receive a valid court order, we follow the laws and regulations of the country that issued it, unlock the album and hand over its content and who it was shared with. We will not unlock an expired album without a court order. Every release is logged.

A report of an album that has already expired still locks and preserves it, and we still make the reports US law requires, but its photos and videos are only handed over for a court order.

Read the full privacy policy.

Here's what we hand to police

When an album is reported, or a court order arrives, we build an evidence bundle and hand it to police and NCMEC. This is what one looks like. A real bundle has every value filled in, and the album's photos and videos as described above.

These are serious crimes

Report abuse

In the app, tap Report this album. Anywhere else, use the form and tell us the album link and what you saw. Do not download, screenshot or forward the content, not even to us.

You can also report child sexual abuse material directly to NCMEC at report.cybertip.org. If someone is in immediate danger, call your local emergency number.

If it's you in the images

If you are under 18, or were under 18 when nude or sexual images of you were taken, Take It Down (takeitdown.ncmec.org) can help remove them from participating platforms, without anyone seeing them. You are not in trouble. You can also talk to NCMEC at report.cybertip.org or 1-800-843-5678.