Biometric Privacy & pgvector Isolation

Biometric Data Architecture

Because BestShots calculates facial embeddings to cluster individuals across event galleries, the platform adheres strictly to global biometric privacy regulations, including the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), Texas CUBI, California CCPA, and EU GDPR.

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Technical Isolation in pgvector

1. Per-Project Data Silos: Facial descriptors are stored as 512-dimensional mathematical vectors in Neon PostgreSQL using vector(512) columns. Each row is bound to a specific photo_id and project_id.
2. Zero Cross-Account Matching: Facial vectors are strictly queried within the boundary of the active photographer project. They are never compared against global user directories or external identity registries.
3. No Law Enforcement Access: Vector descriptors and face crops are never shared with commercial brokers, advertising networks, or law enforcement entities.

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Irrevocable Deletion Rights

Photographers and their clients maintain complete sovereignty over biometric data:

• Deleting a project permanently deletes all linked photo_faces and key_people records, purging vector descriptors from database indexes.
• Deleting a single photo removes its associated facial crop and embedding instantly.
• Account closure triggers a hard cascading deletion across all associated projects within 30 days.