Risks
Nudify apps
Apps and sites that use AI to create fake nude images from ordinary photos of real people, including students, without their consent.
- Parents
- Educators and school leaders
- Policymakers and staff
What parents should know
Nudify apps take a normal photo and generate a fake nude of that person. Students use them to humiliate classmates. The image is a deepfake and, when the person is a minor, it is a child-exploitation report, not a prank. Do not search for the apps, do not try one, and do not forward the result. Report it to NCMEC.
On this page
What are nudify apps?
These services advertise a single outcome: a sexualized fake made from a clothed photo. The photo may come from a yearbook, a sports page, or a private chat. The person pictured did not pose and did not agree. NCMEC and the FTC treat AI-made intimate images as real harm. This page will not name apps or describe how to produce an image.
When the pictured person is under 18, the result is not a gray-area meme. Report it as child sexual exploitation material through the CyberTipline. Do not download a copy to investigate. Do not ask the student to send it to you in email so you can see.
Why nudify apps matter
The apps spread because the input is an ordinary picture and the output shocks a whole grade. Schools are where the files circulate. A discipline process that displays the image multiplies the harm. A process that supports the student, stops forwarding, and reports to NCMEC does not.
The TAKE IT DOWN Act gives covered platforms a removal duty, including for digital forgeries. NCMEC's Take It Down service is the path aimed at images of people who were under 18. Use both when they apply. Paying a classmate to delete a file is not a plan.
How it shows up in practice
- A student learns a fake nude of them is in a group chat and tells a parent.
- The parent does not open the file in a family thread. They report to NCMEC.
- The school separates support for the student from any viewing of the image by extra staff.
- Classmates are told to delete and not forward, without being shown the picture again.
How HeyOtto helps
HeyOtto does not provide nudify tools and should not be used to attempt one. Image generation is age-filtered. Parents can turn it off and can read prompts. Schools can disable image generation. None of that erases an image made in another app. If a child is pictured, stop the spread, stay with them, and report at report.cybertip.org. Use takeitdown.ncmec.org for removal help. HeyOtto is not that reporting channel.
- Do not upload a classmate's photo to any image tool.
- Public sharing on HeyOtto still requires a parent, which is unrelated to a nude made elsewhere.
- If the child is in distress, stay with them. In the United States, 988 is the crisis line.
For families
Try freeFAQs
Is a fake nude of a student illegal?
If the student is a minor, treat it as illegal child sexual abuse material and report it to NCMEC. Do not keep it to decide. The TAKE IT DOWN Act also covers AI-made intimate images on covered platforms. This page is general information, not legal advice.
Should I look up the app to block it?
Do not search for or install these apps. Blocking at school can use categories your filter already has, plus a rule against generating sexual images of real people. Naming and visiting the services is how they get more photos.
What do I say to my child if they are the one who tried it?
Stop immediately. Delete what you can delete without sending it onward. If another child is pictured, this is not a private mistake to hide. Tell an adult and report to NCMEC. Do not make a second image to prove you deleted the first.
What do I say if my child is the target?
It is not their fault, including if the source photo was one they posted. Do not blame the photo. Report, involve the school without a screening of the file, and stay with them. NCMEC's Take It Down service is built for removal help.
Sources
Last reviewed September 26, 2026. This entry is reviewed twice a year.