Face grouping retention policy

You can easily find photos of your friends with face grouping in Google Photos.

Learn how face grouping works

Face grouping occurs in 3 steps:

1. We detect whether any photo has a face in it.
2. If the face grouping feature is on, algorithms are used to create face models that numerically represent the images of faces, predict the similarity of different images of faces, and estimate whether different images represent the same face.
3. Photos with very similar faces that are likely to be of the same person are grouped together in a face group. You can always remove a photo from a face group if you think it's in the wrong group.

You can also add a name or nickname label to any face group.

What happens when you turn off face grouping

If you turn off face grouping, you delete all:

• Face groups in your account
• Face models used to create those face groups
• Face labels you created

What happens when you delete a photo or video

If you delete an individual photo or video, you delete any face models derived specifically from that photo or video.

What happens when you delete your Google Account

If you delete your Google Account, you delete all of your Google Photos content, including all:

• Face groups in your account
• Face models used to create those face groups
• Face labels you created

What happens when your Google Photos account is inactive

If your Google Photos account is inactive for more than 2 years, all of your face grouping content will be deleted from Google Photos, including all:

• Face groups in your account
• Face models used to create those face groups
• Face labels you created

Enable safe & complete deletion

Learn how Google ensures that deleted data is safely and completely deleted from our storage systems.