Overview
- YouTube says all creators 18 and older now qualify for the likeness tool, and a spokesperson told The Verge that anyone can use it.
- Sign-up happens in YouTube Studio under Content Detection → Likeness, where users scan a QR code, submit a government ID, and complete a selfie video.
- Once verified, the system builds a face reference, scans new uploads for visual matches, alerts the user, and lets them file a takedown request.
- Requests get manual review under privacy rules that allow parody and other transformative works, and YouTube notes some real-face clips may not be removable.
- The detector does not identify voice clones on its own, YouTube reports few removals so far, and users can opt in or out of letting face or voice templates train its models.