Face scan privacy: what actually happens to your photo

Does the photo leave your phone?

Yes. GlowAI is cloud-processed, not on-device, and this page will not pretend otherwise. The two photos you capture — a front shot and a side profile — are uploaded over an encrypted connection and sent to Google Gemini for the facial-geometry and skin analysis.

Per Google’s API terms, Gemini does not retain your face images: processing is transient, the images are sent only for that one analysis request, and they are not stored on Google’s systems. The photos and the results that come back are then stored in your GlowAI account — in Google Firebase, encrypted with HTTPS in transit and AES-256 at rest — until you delete them.

What is stored, and for how long?

Rather than a vague “as needed,” the privacy policy publishes a retention period for every category of data. Reproduced here unchanged:

The line that answers this page’s question directly: face images and analysis results are stored until you delete the individual scan or your account. Nothing about a scan outlives that by default.

Does the scan train a model?

The harmony score itself is not produced by a model that learns from photos in the first place — it is a deterministic geometry calculation. Facial landmarks in, 75 geometric measurements out, each metric compared against a published range. There is no rater sitting behind it to train.

The one place a model actually runs is Google Gemini, for the skin-feature observations, the personalized recommendations and the Coach chat. Per Google’s API terms, that transient, not-retained handling is what the policy documents for your face images specifically. It does not make the same explicit non-retention commitment for Coach chat messages, which are also sent to Gemini — treat that half as unconfirmed rather than assumed.

One honest gap: the privacy policy does not currently make a separate, standalone commitment that photos are never used for model training, beyond that API-terms language. If that distinction matters to you, it is a fair question to put directly to any app — GlowAI included — rather than assume from silence.

How do you delete it?

Two levels, and they work independently of each other.

• Delete one scan. App → History → select the scan → Delete. This removes that scan’s photos and results without touching your account or any other scan.
• Delete your account. App → Profile → Privacy & Security → Delete Account. This is immediate — no waiting period, no pending state. Your account, your facial images and every analysis result are erased in that action, and it cannot be undone.

There is also a full data export (App → Profile → Privacy & Security → Export data) if you want a copy before deleting anything. Full detail on both flows is in GlowAI’s account-deletion instructions and the complete privacy policy.

Not a medical device, not a dermatology service

GlowAI is not a medical device and not a dermatology service, and its terms of service say so directly. It measures facial geometry — 75 geometric measurements checked against published anthropometric ranges and standards — and it does not diagnose skin conditions. No dermatologist reviews a scan.

What to ask any face-scan app

This is the generalizable part, and it applies whether the app calls itself a looksmax tool, a skincare AI, or a face-rating app. Ask these six questions of any of them before you point a camera at your own face, GlowAI included:

1. Does the photo leave the device — and if so, name the destination? "Our secure servers" is not an answer; a specific vendor and product is.
2. Is third-party processing transient or retained, per that vendor's own API terms — not just the app's paraphrase of them?
3. Is there a published, per-category retention table, or just "as needed" or "as long as necessary"?
4. Can you delete one scan without deleting the whole account?
5. Is account deletion immediate, or does it sit in a pending queue for days?
6. Does the app say plainly whether it is a medical or diagnostic tool — or leave that ambiguous?

No incumbent in this category currently publishes a page that answers all six. A vague “we take your privacy seriously” is not an answer to any of them — a specific vendor name, a specific retention period, and a specific deletion flow are.

Common questions