Does AI keep your photos and face? What avatar tools store

If the AI tool makes a reusable avatar, yes: it keeps what it learned from your photos and face on purpose, because the avatar is a stored asset. How long, and how you get it removed, is written in each tool's privacy policy. On Sume, an avatar is a durable workspace resource, inputs may be kept as needed to run the service, and deletion is requested by email.

Sume's side is quoted from its Privacy Policy (last updated September 13, 2026), Create new avatar and the Sume API reference. HeyGen's and Synthesia's come from their own privacy policies. All were read 2026-09-29.

How long do avatar tools keep your face?

The three policies answer it differently, and none gives a fixed number of days for a live avatar:

What does Sume keep when I make an avatar?

Sume creates a reusable avatar from a prompt, a structured profile, or a reference image. Its Privacy Policy lists avatar inputs, uploaded media and reference files among the content it collects, and generated outputs and asset records too.

• The API reference describes an avatar as a durable resource scoped to your workspace, with image fields that point to Sume-hosted artifacts.
• In a team workspace, assets are visible to other members according to their role.
• The policy asks you not to submit sensitive personal information unless it is necessary for your authorized use.
• Sume's Terms make you responsible for having permission to use any person's likeness you submit.

Can I delete my photos and my avatar?

HeyGen's policy says you can delete data yourself from your account or by deleting the account. On Sume, the API reference lists avatar routes to list and read avatars, and no route to delete one. For data Sume holds, its Privacy Policy says to email dev@sume.com with your sign-in email, your workspace name or URL, and the data you want deleted. Timing depends on the request and any verification needed.

A request can't delete other users' data or all of a shared workspace's content, and an organization's administrator controls that workspace. How to delete your data from an AI tool walks through the full request.

Does AI use my face to train its models?

That is a separate question from storage. HeyGen's policy says it may use your input to improve its services, for example to train and enhance its models. Sume's Terms license your content to provide, secure, support and improve the Services and don't address model training either way. Is my data used to train AI? covers the wording.

What should I check before uploading a face?

• The retention line in the privacy policy, and whether it names avatar or biometric data.
• How deletion works: a button, an email, or both, and what it doesn't cover (backups, shared workspaces).
• Who else in your workspace can see the avatar.
• Written permission from the person, if the face isn't yours.