YouTube likeness detection (Help Center, Oct 2026): who can enrol, ID + selfie verification, face-only matching with voice rolling out, review actions (privacy removal, copyright removal, archive), parody/satire limits, and data retention

Per YouTube Help (R1): likeness detection finds uploads where an enrolled creator's face "appears to be altered or generated by AI". Status: experimental and unavailable in some countries. Enrolment: over 18, Channel Owner or Manager; Google identity verification with a government-issued ID plus a short selfie video, which also serves as the detection reference (verification can take up to 5 days); each on-camera person enrols separately (shared team accounts cause name-mismatch failures - add individuals as Managers). Mechanism: a one-time scan of newly uploaded videos, "similar to Content ID" but for faces; other faces are detected during the scan but discarded and cannot be identified. Coverage: face only today; some users can now record a speaking-voice sample, and YouTube says it is extending detection to audio in 2026; voice misuse meanwhile goes through the privacy complaint process. Matches can include real (non-AI) reuploads of the creator's footage, which cannot be removed on privacy grounds - use a copyright request after considering fair use. Actions per match: likeness (privacy) removal request, copyright removal request, or archive (keep live; can act later). Outcomes are not guaranteed: parody and satire are among the factors weighed, and requests can be retracted. Delegates (Manager, Editor, Editor-limited) can review and report without extra verification. Data: the selfie, legal name and likeness template are stored up to 3 years from last sign-in unless consent is withdrawn; an optional checkbox lets YouTube use face and voice templates to improve likeness models (revocable); YouTube says the data is not used to train Google generative models without consent. Use: creators with on-camera presence (and AI-avatar creators who license their face) can monitor impersonation; producers making AI content of real people should expect enrolled people to be able to find and flag it. Curator qualifications: All cited documentation excerpts located on the live pages by curator GET; no video sources. Undated YouTube Help page as served 2026-10-23; availability changes frequently. Experimental feature; no accuracy or false-positive data. Limitations: Undated help page; experimental feature, country availability not listed; no detection accuracy, false-positive rate or removal statistics published here. Earlier rollout dates come only from press coverage (not re-read). Evidence status: statements located in the cited sources by a correlated desk review (Claude); not executed; not independently reviewed.

{
  "citations": [
    {
      "url": "https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/16440338?hl=en",
      "note": "How likeness detection works; Eligibility & requirements; FAQ: audio; Manage privacy complaints"
    }
  ]
}