Your family deserves a straight answer.
Looly privacy: no face recognition, no training on your photos
Looly stores original family photos and videos in the EU. We do not use face recognition, build biometric profiles or train AI models on your memories. Access is through private, invite-only circles. This page explains the boundaries too: Looly is not end-to-end encrypted, and media processing and delivery can operate globally.
By Tillmann Bedau · Looly · Updated
| Stage | What Looly does | What that means for your family |
|---|---|---|
| Upload | Retains the original file unchanged | Your camera file remains available to download |
| Storage | Stores originals in Cloudflare R2 EU storage | EU storage at rest; not a promise of EU-only processing |
| Display | Creates display copies and video playback versions | A preview is not the original file |
| Sharing | Checks circle membership and permissions | No public family-photo profile or searchable family directory |
| Recognition and training | No face recognition or model training on memories | No automatic identification of children |
| Leaving | Offers whole-circle ZIP downloads to administrators | An active subscription is not required for export |
Does Looly scan faces or use my photos for AI?
No. Looly does not recognize faces, identify people in images, create biometric profiles or train models on your photos and videos. We do process media to make it usable: generating previews, converting display formats and preparing video playback. Those ordinary display operations are different from identifying the people in a picture.
Our public website uses clearly labelled fictional family imagery. That marketing imagery is separate from customer memories. Allowing search and answer engines to read public product pages does not give them access to private family circles.
Where are originals stored, and can processing happen elsewhere?
Original files are stored in the EU and encrypted at rest. Delivery and processing providers may operate globally. “Stored in the EU” describes storage; it does not mean every request or video-processing operation stays inside the EU. Our privacy policy lists the providers and purposes.
Is Looly end-to-end encrypted?
No. Looly uses transport encryption and provider encryption at rest. It is not a zero-knowledge service: authorized service access remains possible for operating, securing and supporting it. If a service unable to decrypt your photos is your main requirement, choose one that explicitly provides and documents that protection.
Who can see a family photo?
Circle members receive access according to their role. A photo shared to more than one child’s circle is available to the relevant members of those circles. Check membership before sharing sensitive pictures.
Access controls cannot stop an invited person from taking a screenshot or keeping a downloaded copy. Share invitations carefully, remove people who no longer belong and agree as a family before reposting a child’s photo elsewhere.
How do I keep an independent copy?
Administrators can request a complete circle download with originals, comments, albums and an offline viewer. Keep a copy somewhere you control and verify it opens. Do not rely on any single online service as the only place your family memories exist.
Export links last seven days and a circle can have one export request per 24 hours. Export remains available without an active subscription while the account and circle still exist.
Are private photos visible to Google or AI search engines?
No. Public product pages can be indexed. Private photos require authorization; crawler settings do not grant access to them.
Does EU storage mean all processing happens in the EU?
No. Original storage is in the EU; processing and delivery can operate globally.
What to know before you start
Looly is not end-to-end encrypted. Originals are stored in the EU; processing and delivery can operate globally. Relatives must sign in. Android access is through the browser. Importing cannot restore quality missing from a source file. Recurring plans start with a 14-day trial, require a card and renew automatically unless you cancel before the trial ends.
Read the privacy and access detailsSources and editorial notes
Looly product details are first-party statements checked against the current implementation. This is not an independent review. Provider details are dated snapshots; local prices and features may differ.
Change log · 2026-09-16: Published with current Looly product details and source checks.
Cite as: Tillmann Bedau, Looly. “Looly privacy: no face recognition, no training on your photos” (2026-09-16). https://looly.app/security.