What happens to the shopper’s photo in a virtual try-on?
Published
A virtual try-on starts with a photo of a real person, often taken in a bedroom mirror. Shoppers will ask what happens to it, and so should you before you offer the feature. Here is the path the photo takes in Aynada, step by step, and where the ikas app and the Shopify app differ.
Why the photo deserves care
The photo a shopper uploads may show their body and their face. Aynada uses it for one thing: to create the try-on image the shopper asked for. It does not use photos or results to identify anyone, perform facial recognition or create biometric identifiers, and it never uses them to train or improve AI models, nor lets its service providers do so.
The rules are the same on both platforms up to the point where the image exists. After that, the two apps keep it for different lengths of time, so the sections below say which app they describe.
Step 1: the photo check runs on the shopper’s device
When a shopper chooses a photo, Aynada checks inside their own browser whether it shows a person. The model for this check runs on the device; the photo is not sent to any server for it. The check only gives guidance: if no person is found, the shopper is told and can still continue. A face does not need to be visible.
To run the check, the browser downloads the program and model files from jsDelivr and Google. Like any web request, this lets those providers see the shopper’s IP address. They do not see the photo.
Step 2: the photo is sent only to create the image
When the shopper starts the try-on, the photo and the product image are sent to HomeVisioner’s servers and to Google Cloud’s AI services, only to create the requested try-on image. Aynada’s main application and image storage run in European Union regions.
On ikas: no photo is kept
In the ikas app, the shopper’s photo and the copy of the product image are deleted as soon as the try-on image has been generated, whether the generation succeeded or not. The try-on image itself is delivered to the shopper’s browser once and deleted as it is delivered.
If the shopper closes the tab before the result arrives, the result is deleted automatically within one hour at the latest. If a deletion fails for a technical reason, the automatic clean-up tries again.
So that shoppers can flick back to an earlier try-on, the images of their recent try-ons stay in that browser tab’s session storage only. They are not sent anywhere and are gone when the tab is closed. The try-on window tells the shopper so: “Your photo is not stored. Your try-ons stay only in this tab until you close it.”
On Shopify: stored privately, deleted after 30 days
Aynada for Shopify is on its way to the Shopify App Store, and it handles photos differently. The shopper’s photo, the copies of the product images and the generated try-on image are stored privately and deleted automatically 30 days after the try-on, unless a longer period is required by law or needed for legal claims.
A shopper can share a result. Sharing is always started by the shopper and creates an unlisted web address with a random identifier, kept out of search engines. The shared page shows the try-on image, the product’s title and a link to the product; it never shows the original photo or contact details. Anyone with the link can open it, and it stops working when the image is deleted.
Shopify’s own privacy requests are handled too: when a customer asks for deletion, their try-on images and records are deleted, and when a store removes the app, Shopify sends a shop deletion request and all of that store’s images and records are deleted.
The two apps side by side
| ikas app | Shopify app | |
|---|---|---|
| Shopper’s photo | Deleted as soon as the image is generated | Stored privately, deleted 30 days after the try-on |
| Try-on image | Deleted as it reaches the shopper’s browser; if never collected, within one hour at the latest | Stored privately, deleted 30 days after the try-on |
| Merchant sees photo or result | No | No |
| Used to train AI | No | No |
What you see as the merchant
On both platforms you see numbers, not pictures. The panel shows how often each product was tried on, the email address a shopper chose to give together with their marketing choice, the product and the time, and the orders that followed a try-on. Neither app lets you see the photo a shopper uploaded or the image created from it; Aynada has no gallery of shopper images.
Email is only ever given by the shopper. After the free try-ons the window may ask for an address to continue; consent to marketing emails is asked separately, with a box that is not ticked in advance, and can be withdrawn at any time. Marketing emails are sent by you, not by HomeVisioner. You can export the list as CSV and are responsible for the exported data.
The try-on window also keeps a few values in the shopper’s browser, such as a random visitor identifier and the day’s try-on count, so that the daily allowance works and an order can be matched to a try-on. They are not used for advertising tracking.
Who is responsible for what?
When a shopper uses Aynada in your store, you decide to offer the feature, so you are generally the data controller and HomeVisioner processes the data on your behalf, under a data processing addendum. Your own privacy policy applies as well, and shoppers will usually come to you first with questions.
Aynada is meant for adults using a photo of themselves: shoppers must not upload a photo of another person without their permission, or a photo of a child.
This post explains how the apps handle photos; it is not legal advice. The binding texts are the privacy policies:
New to the topic? What is AI virtual try-on? explains the feature from the start.
Questions and answers
Is the shopper’s photo used to train AI?
No. Neither HomeVisioner nor its service providers use uploaded photos or generated images to train or improve AI models.
Can I see my shoppers’ photos?
No. On both platforms the panel shows counts, emails shoppers chose to give and orders, never the photo or the try-on image.
How long does Aynada keep the photo?
In the ikas app it is deleted as soon as the image is generated, and the result as it reaches the shopper’s browser. In the Shopify app the photo and the result are stored privately and deleted 30 days after the try-on.
Does the shopper’s face have to be in the photo?
No. For clothing the area where the product goes needs to be in the frame. The photo check on the device only gives guidance and never blocks the shopper.