Answer
My Client Wants Their Photos Deleted: What to Do
Confirm the request in writing, take the gallery down in an order that leaves nothing live, and tell the client honestly what still exists and for how long. This is general information, not legal advice.
Updated September 2026
A client writes to say they want their photos deleted. It might follow a breakup, a falling-out, a family loss, or simply a change of heart about being online. The request deserves a calm, complete answer rather than a quick click.
This page is a practical process. It covers how to confirm the request, what deleting a gallery on clientgallery.io actually removes, the order that leaves nothing live, and the honest part: what still exists after the gallery is gone. The product behaviour described here was checked in the product code on 30 September 2026. The privacy rules quoted come from official government pages fetched the same day.
It is general information, not legal advice. Privacy rules differ by country and province, and your contract matters. If the request comes with a lawyer's letter, a dispute over payment, or anything involving a minor, talk to a lawyer where you work before you act.
Step 1: confirm the request in writing
Start by getting the request into writing, in the client's own words. A text or a phone call is easy to misremember later. An email thread is a record for both of you.
Reply with a short message that settles four questions:
- Which galleries. A client with an engagement and a wedding may mean one, or both.
- All photos, or some. Sometimes the request is about a few frames, or one person in them, not the whole set.
- Your own copies too. Taking the gallery offline and erasing every copy you hold are two different requests. Ask which one they mean.
- Your portfolio and social posts. If you published any of the images, say so and ask whether those should come down as well.
Check who is asking. If one partner from a couple asks, and the gallery belongs to both, the other person may see it differently. Confirm with the person named on the contract, and keep the reply polite and factual.
Then read your contract. It may say how long you keep files, what you may use in your portfolio, and whether a model release was signed. The contract clauses page has sample wording worth adding for next time.
Step 2: what deleting a gallery removes
Deleting a gallery in the studio is permanent. There is no trash and no undo. The gallery link stops working at once, and anyone who opens it afterwards sees a not-found page.
| Studio action | What it removes |
|---|---|
| Delete a photo | The hosted proof file, its older edited versions, and the photo's record, including any face descriptors stored for Face Search |
| Delete a section, keeping photos | Only the section. Its photos move back to the top of the gallery and stay visible |
| Delete a section with its photos | The section and the files of every photo inside it |
| Remove a full-resolution ZIP | The ZIP file itself, straight away, rather than at the end of its 3 days |
| Delete the gallery | The gallery and its link, the hosted proofs, the invoice file, older photo versions and any signed model release files |
Note the second row. Deleting a section does not delete its photos unless you choose that option. If the client wants some photos gone, delete those photos, not just the section they sit in.
Step 3: take it down in this order
The order below leaves nothing reachable while you work, and it removes each piece with the action built for it.
- Switch Face Search off if it was on for that gallery. From that moment the face data for the gallery is no longer served to anyone.
- Remove every full-resolution ZIP listed on the gallery. Removing a ZIP deletes the file immediately instead of waiting for its 3-day window to run out.
- Delete the photos the client asked about. Deleting a photo removes its file, its older versions and its stored face descriptors.
- Delete the gallery itself if the request covers all of it. The link stops working at once.
- Open the old link yourself, in a private browser window, and confirm you get a not-found page.
If the client only wants a few frames removed, stop after step 3. The gallery and its link stay as they are, without those photos.
clientgallery.io never emails your clients, so nothing tells them the gallery is gone. The next step is your own message.
Step 4: tell the client what still exists
This is the part most studios skip, and the part that builds trust. Deleting a gallery removes the hosted copy. It does not reach every copy of the photos in the world. Say so plainly.
| Copy | Who controls it | What to tell the client |
|---|---|---|
| The hosted gallery | You, in the studio | Deleted on this date, link no longer works |
| Your RAW files and edits | You, on your own drives | Deleted, or kept until a date and for a stated reason |
| Your backups | You | When backup copies roll off or are erased |
| Your Lightroom catalog | You | Removed from the catalog, or kept with the originals |
| Portfolio and social posts | You | Taken down, or never published |
| Photos already downloaded | The client and anyone they shared with | You cannot delete these |
| A gallery on a previous platform | You, on that platform | Deleted there too, if you moved hosts |
The last row catches people out. If you moved galleries across with the Pixieset import, the old collection is still on Pixieset until you delete it there. The import only reads the Pixieset account and never changes it. The same applies to any gallery you rebuilt by hand from another platform.
A short confirmation message works well. Name the galleries, the date they were deleted, what you deleted from your own drives, and anything you are keeping, with the reason and the date it will go. Be specific rather than reassuring.
Keeping some files: when it is reasonable
You may have real reasons to keep something. Invoices and contracts often fall under record-keeping rules. A payment dispute or a complaint may make the files evidence. The official pages below recognise that a legal retention duty or a legal claim can change the answer.
If you keep anything, keep it narrowly. Keep what the reason actually requires, set an end date, and tell the client both. A contract kept for tax records does not require the full gallery of photos.
For a standing policy on how long you hold each kind of file, see how long to keep client photos and where to keep originals after delivery. A studio that already knows where every copy lives can answer a deletion request in an afternoon.
What official privacy guidance says
The rules depend on where you and your client are. Below is what three official sources say, in summary. Other places have their own rules, so check the one that applies to you.
| Where | Official source | What it says, in summary |
|---|---|---|
| Québec, private businesses | Commission d'accès à l'information du Québec | Once personal information is no longer needed for the purposes set in advance, it must be destroyed securely. The only restriction on that duty is a retention period set by a law. Anonymising is possible in some cases. |
| Canada, federal private-sector law | PIPEDA, Schedule 1, clause 4.5.3, and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada | Personal information no longer required for the identified purposes should be destroyed, erased or made anonymous. The Commissioner's guidance adds that disposal must be done with care, to prevent unauthorised access. |
| European Union | European Commission guidance on the GDPR | People can ask for their data to be deleted, and organisations must do so without undue delay in certain cases, such as data no longer needed or consent withdrawn. Exceptions include a legal duty to keep the data and the exercise of legal claims. Requests get a reply in principle within one month. |
Whether a given photo counts as personal information, and which rule governs your studio, are questions for your own jurisdiction. When in doubt, treat a client's photos as personal information and act promptly.
Before the next request
- Write your retention periods into the contract, per kind of file.
- Say in the contract how a client asks for deletion, and to whom.
- Keep every copy of a shoot findable under one name: drives, backups, catalog.
- Leave Face Search off unless the gallery really needs it.
- Keep a one-paragraph confirmation template ready to send.
None of this needs special software. It needs knowing where every copy lives, which is the same habit that protects you if a gallery is ever deleted by mistake.
Sources
- Commission d'accès à l'information du Québec, "Conservation et destruction des renseignements personnels", cai.gouv.qc.ca/protection-renseignements-personnels/information-entreprises-privees/conservation-destruction-renseignements-personnels, fetched 30 September 2026.
- Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, S.C. 2000, c. 5, Schedule 1, clause 4.5.3, laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/P-8.6/page-7.html, fetched 30 September 2026.
- Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, "Personal Information Retention and Disposal: Principles and Best Practices" (page modified 11 August 2025), priv.gc.ca/en/privacy-topics/business-privacy/safeguards-and-breaches/safeguarding-personal-information/gd_rd_201406/, fetched 30 September 2026.
- European Commission, "Dealing with requests from individuals", commission.europa.eu/law/law-topic/data-protection/rules-business-and-organisations/dealing-citizens_en, fetched 30 September 2026.
Product facts were checked in the clientgallery.io code on 30 September 2026: gallery deletion is permanent and the link then shows a not-found page; what deleting a photo, a section, a ZIP and a gallery each removes; the Face Search switch stopping face data from being served; the 3-day ZIP window; the Pixieset import only reading the Pixieset account; and the product never emailing clients.
Frequently asked
Can I undo deleting a gallery?
No. Deleting a gallery is permanent, with no trash and no undo. The link stops working at once. If you delete one by mistake, the recovery is republishing from your own originals, which is why it pays to keep them organised.
Does the client get notified when I delete their gallery?
No. clientgallery.io never emails your clients. Send your own confirmation message naming the galleries, the date, and what you did or did not delete from your own drives.
What happens to face data if Face Search was on?
Switch Face Search off first, and the gallery's face data is no longer served to anyone. Face descriptors are stored with each photo, and deleting a photo removes them. Deleting the whole studio account also removes them.
The client only wants a few photos removed. Do I delete the gallery?
No. Delete just those photos. The gallery and its link stay live without them. Deleting a section alone does not delete its photos unless you choose that option, so delete the photos themselves.
Can I delete photos the client already downloaded?
No. Downloaded copies belong to the client and anyone they shared them with. Say this plainly in your confirmation so there is no misunderstanding about what deletion covers.
Do I have to delete my RAW files and backups too?
It depends on the request, your contract and the privacy rules where you work. Official guidance in Québec, Canada and the EU points to destroying personal information once it is no longer needed, with room for a legal retention duty or a legal claim. This is general information, not legal advice.
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