AnonimoGuides: blurring faces, and when you need to
Each guide answers one question in the first paragraph, then gives the steps for every way to do it, including the ones that do not involve our app.
How-to guides
- How to blur faces in a video on iPhoneiMovie on iPhone has no blur or censor effect, so you need another tool. The three real options are an app that finds faces for you (Anonimo does this on the phone, free up to 30 seconds), a video editor where you blur each face by hand (CapCut), or YouTube Studio's blur tool if the video is going to YouTube anyway. Here is how each one works and what it costs.
- How to hide kids' faces in a video before postingCover every child's face you do not have the parents' permission for, and do it on your phone rather than in a cloud editor. Anonimo finds the faces, groups them by child, and lets you keep your own child visible with one tap; an emoji cover looks friendlier than a blur on a birthday video. Then watch the export once before you post.
- Blur faces in CapCut, or use a face blur app?Use CapCut if you are already editing there and have one or two faces to hide in a short clip: the mask-and-keyframe method works and costs nothing. Use a face blur app such as Anonimo when there are many faces, when the people move, or when the footage should not be uploaded anywhere: detection is automatic, each person is one tap, and it runs on the phone.
- YouTube Studio's blur tool: what it can and cannot doYouTube Studio can blur faces it detects, or a box you draw that follows an object, in any video you have uploaded, for free. It cannot work before upload, on videos that are not going to YouTube, or give you a full-quality blurred file for Instagram or TikTok. For those, blur on your phone first.
- Blurring faces in a video for GDPRUnder the GDPR a video in which a person can be recognised is personal data, so sharing it needs a legal basis such as consent or a legitimate interest. Blurring the faces of everyone you have no basis for is the usual way to share the video anyway: a blurred face is generally no longer personal data. It is not the whole job, because voices, names, uniforms and the place can still identify people.
- How to blur a face in a photo on iPhoneThe Photos app has no blur or pixelate tool. The built-in workaround is Markup, where you can cover a face with an opaque shape or a thick pen stroke. For a real blur or mosaic, use the free tool on this site in Safari, or the Anonimo app, which finds the faces for you and lets you resize each cover.
- Blurring faces in a protest videoPixelate rather than blur, do it on your phone before the video goes anywhere, and treat the result as a reduction of risk, not a guarantee. Anonimo pixelates every face on the iPhone with no upload; pixelation is in the free tier. Then strip metadata and think about what else in the frame identifies people.
Comparisons
- Anonimo vs KloakPick Anonimo if you want a free tier that exports real clips (up to 30 seconds), a one-time Pro at $14.99 or $9.99 a year with no weekly plan, or if your iPhone runs iOS 17 to 26. Both run on the device without uploading.
- Anonimo vs CapCutPick Anonimo if there are many faces, if the people move, or if the footage must not be uploaded: detection is automatic, each person is one tap, and it runs offline on the iPhone. Then edit the blurred clip in CapCut if you like.
- Anonimo vs FaceHazePick Anonimo if you want to keep chosen people visible (FaceHaze blurs every face), three cover styles including pixelation and emoji, longer free exports (30 seconds against 10), and photos as well as video.
- Anonimo vs YouTube Studio blurPick Anonimo if the video goes to Instagram, TikTok, a client or a messenger too, if the original must stay on your phone, or if you want pixelation or an emoji instead of a soft blur.
Filming people: the rules by country
- BrazilFilming in public is not banned, but a person's image is a constitutional right; publishing a recognisable person for commercial purposes without consent is compensable, and children get extra protection.
- China (mainland)The Civil Code portrait right means making or publishing a recognisable person's image needs consent unless an exception applies; face data is sensitive under the PIPL, which exempts household use.
- FranceFilming in a public place is allowed; publishing a recognisable, singled-out person needs their consent under Article 9 Code civil, with exceptions for news, crowds and public figures.
- GermanyFilming in public is generally allowed; publishing a recognisable person usually needs consent under the KUG, with exceptions for public events, crowds and incidental bystanders.
- ItalyFilming in public is generally allowed; publishing a recognisable person needs consent under art. 96 of the copyright law unless a public-interest or public-event exception in art. 97 applies.
- JapanNo portrait-rights statute: courts weigh place, purpose and manner, so filming a street is usually tolerated but singling out and publishing a stranger can be a tort.
- NetherlandsFilming in public is generally allowed; publishing a recognisable person is judged under the portretrecht 'reasonable interest' test and, outside personal use, the GDPR.
- PolandFilming in public is not restricted; publishing a recognisable person needs permission under art. 81 copyright act, unless they are a public figure on duty or only a crowd detail.
- Saudi ArabiaPhotography in public is generally allowed, but the Anti-Cyber Crime Law punishes invading privacy with camera phones or defaming people, and the PDPL treats published videos as personal data.
- South KoreaCourts protect 초상권 (portrait rights) even in public, so filming or posting a recognisable stranger needs consent or a weighty reason; business filming falls under PIPA.
- SpainFilming in public is generally allowed; publishing a recognisable person usually needs consent under Ley Orgánica 1/1982 and data protection law, with exceptions for public figures and accessory images.
- TaiwanFilming in public is generally allowed and the data law exempts personal use and public-place footage, but publishing a recognisable person can breach their portrait right under the Civil Code.
- TurkeyNo general ban on filming in public, but faces are personal data under the KVKK; publishing a recognisable person without consent can breach civil law and Penal Code art. 134.
- UkraineFilming openly in the street or at public events is allowed because consent is presumed; publishing a recognisable person usually needs consent, and wartime rules restrict filming the military.
- United Arab EmiratesFilming strangers is risky: the Cybercrimes Law punishes photographing or publishing people without consent, in public or private, when done to invade privacy; accident victims and children get extra protection.
- United KingdomFilming in public is generally allowed; publishing identifiable people engages UK GDPR and the misuse-of-private-information tort, with a household exemption for purely personal use.
- United StatesFilming people in public is broadly protected by the First Amendment; audio recording, commercial use of a likeness and voyeuristic filming of intimate areas are regulated, and rules vary by state.
- All guides
If you want this done automatically on your iPhone, Anonimo finds every face in a video, groups them by person, and blurs everyone except the people you pick. Nothing leaves the phone.