Guide for when your personal pictures are posted online without permission?

Don't Panic. Respond quickly. Faster the better. Be confident. Get help.

Contact the police - especially if you or the person in the picture or video were under age.  Also if the perpetrator of this crime is known to you and you never gave permission for the pictures to be shared.  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.

Do not become a victim of extortion!  Do not send money to hosting companies or website owners in order to get your content removed. If you must pay to have your content taken offline it is extortion or a bribe under most laws. 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 not send or a picture of your ID to hosting companies or website owners in order to get your content removed. This is a serious act of privacy violation and not required within any takedown process, anywhere. If you must provide a picture of your ID to have your content taken offline it may be dangerous. If you do this 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.

Find as many copies and versions as you can. You are the best person to identify this content. Often it will be cropped or altered in some way so often you can identify it the quickest. Make a list. Like a weed if you can get at the source you can stop it from spreading. Often only one website was the source of the uploaded picture or video. It is important to get it removed from there and move on to the other sites, if there are any.Its 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.

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: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, do NOT be emotional in your description or request for removal do NOT tell a story or give background or incident details 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.