You open up a social media app to see what’s going on in your friends’ lives, but nothing could prepare you for pop-ups on your feed. Instead of vacation pictures or life accomplishments, you see your intimate images shared with the public. In shock, you struggle to decide your next step. However, immediate action is necessary to save your reputation. But what should you do if someone leaks your nudes?
What to do if Your Nudes Got Leaked
Things on the internet spread like wildfire. The longer your nudes are posted, the higher the risk of large-scale reach. You need to work quickly to determine who could’ve leaked your private photos, report the incident, and get your nudes taken down. Here’s what you need to do:
Audit Your Online Presence
Recent studies have shown a positive correlation between intimate partner violence and non-consensual intimate image (NCII) abuse, and 58.4% of identified perpetrators are current or former partners.
What to Do: Consider anyone you may have shared intimate photos with, such as former romantic partners. While doing this, take time to vet your social media presence and remove any content that could be misused. AI allows people to scandalize innocent photos, and manufactured adult content makes up 98% of all deepfake media online.
Gather Evidence
Like any crime, you need evidence to legally combat NCII abuse. Digital evidence poses unique challenges compared to its physical counterpart. Mishandling this data can permanently alter code and ruin your case, so you need to proceed with caution.
What to Do: Take screenshots of the posted nudes, the account that posted them, and any malicious messages they may have sent leading up to the incident. You will need this proof as you continue on to our next step.
Report The Issue
You’ve tied up loose ends and collected proof, now what do you do? File a report. Reporting is necessary to remove your leaked nudes, hold the perpetrator accountable, and protect all internet users in the future. Unfortunately, DFC found that only 2% of victims report the crime to law enforcement, and even less report to the platform.
When reporting someone for leaking your nudes, here’s what to do:
- Report to the platform: Notify the system administrator of the posts and account to have them removed from the platform. You should also file a report with search engines to have links containing your leaked nudes deindexed. You can perform a reverse-image search to find any instances of reposting and report the URLs.
- Report to law enforcement: Posting your nudes without your permission is a crime. It’s important that you report to your local police and national law enforcement agency if necessary. It’s also important for law enforcement to handle these cases with care. Nearly four times as many victims said they had a negative experience with law enforcement versus positive, demonstrating a need for improvement from those combatting these crimes.
- Cybersecurity Professionals: Consider the services of a reputable cybersecurity firm that can help you collect and document evidence. At DFC, we have tools that allow us to access necessary data from images and chat logs that can identify the perpetrator.
Utilize Your Resources
Beyond protecting yourself legally and digitally, don’t forget to address your emotional well-being. There are online tools that can help you remove your leaked intimate content, prevent its resurfacing, and provide emotional support and guidance.
- StopNCII: This free online tool is provided by the Revenge Porn Hotline. It uses hash-based matching to identify and remove your leaked nudes wherever they may have been posted. They boast a 90% removal rate with over 200,000 successful cases.
- Take It Down: Run by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Take It Down tool works to remove private photos of minors that have been posted online. They accept reports through their CyberTipline and also utilize hash-based matching.
- Cyber Civil Rights Initiative: The CCRI is a non-profit that works to establish legislative protections against NCII abuse and provide guidance and support for victims. Their resources include attorney advisory, international resources, educational material on current laws, and a guideline for responding if your nudes were leaked.
How Digital Forensics Corp. Can Help If Someone Has Posted Your Nudes
The team of experts at DFC has seen thousands of cases of intimate image abuse, and we know exactly what to do to protect your photos and reputation. If you need help at any point in the process – whether it’s identifying your attacker, documenting the crime, or finding the right agency to report to – we’ve got you covered.
Tracking Digital Footprints
Our team can analyze the metadata of the images, accounts, and other evidence you’ve collected. In doing so, we can determine the IP address, geolocation, devices used, and ultimately the identity of the nude leaker.
Locating and Removing Leaked Nudes
Our objective is to protect your reputation and prevent personal data leaks before they occur. In cases where intimate photos have already been publicized, we can scour the internet for anywhere your leaked private photos may have been posted, including the dark web.
Connection with Law Enforcement
While the statistics show that the majority of revenge porn cases are linked to romantic partners, sextortion and similar NCII abuse can come from anyone, anywhere. We have working relationships with law enforcement around the globe. We know what to do to help you find the agency with the jurisdiction to pursue action against your abuser, regardless of their region.
Ongoing Protection
Our services expand past successfully removing your private content from the web. We can also provide ongoing monitorization and security audits to help protect you from similar abuse in the future.
Keep Your Private Photos Private in the Future
You now understand what danger lurks in the crevices of the internet. Unfortunately, cases like yours are becoming more common. The Revenge Porn Hotline saw a record-setting 22,275 reports in 2024, a 20.9% increase from the year before.
Sadly, the risk of nude exposure is never zero. You can, however, take steps to safeguard your private photos from perverted perpetrators who wish to post them. And now, you are aware of these steps and know what to do.
DFC has a wealth of online safety knowledge available on our website that you can access for free. You can check out our personal data security checklist to audit your current safety practices and implement stronger defenses against all private data breaches.
If somebody leaked your nudes and you need help responding, DFC is available 24/7. This is a time-sensitive issue, so reach out to our Sextortion Helpline today for a complimentary consultation with one of our specialists and let us help you figure out what to do next.
