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Glossary

The terms you'll run into, in plain words.

CDN or proxy

A service, like Cloudflare, that sits in front of a website to speed it up or protect it. It often doesn't store the site's files.

Copyright

Legal ownership of a creative work, like a photo. Usually belongs to whoever took it.

Counter-notice

A response the poster can file to dispute a DMCA notice. It can lead to content going back up.

Covered platform

A website or app that has to follow the TAKE IT DOWN Act's removal rules, mainly sites that host content posted by users.

Delisting

Removing a page from search results. The page itself stays up.

Digital forgery

The law's term for a realistic AI-generated or altered intimate image.

DMCA

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The U.S. law behind copyright takedown notices.

Hash (fingerprint)

A code made from an image that lets platforms recognize copies without seeing the image. StopNCII and Take It Down use these.

Host

The company whose computers store a website's files.

NCII

Nonconsensual intimate imagery: intimate images shared without the consent of the person shown.

Reference number

The ID a platform gives your request. Save it for follow-ups and complaints.

Registrar

The company that registered a website's domain name.

Sextortion

Threatening to share intimate images unless someone pays, sends more images, or does something else.

StopNCII

A free tool that lets adults block their intimate images on participating platforms, using a fingerprint made on their own device.

TAKE IT DOWN Act

A 2025 U.S. law that requires covered platforms to remove nonconsensual intimate images within 48 hours of a valid request, and makes publishing them a crime.