Privacy Mode
Privacy mode (also called demo mode) blurs all video content, muffles audio, and anonymizes locations and names in the final output. It's for situations where you want to demo the app or share a screen recording without showing your actual footage.
This feature is how all the demo videos on this site were made. I would never have been able to record shareable demos without it: building a privacy mode specifically for this purpose was one of those things where having AI write the code made it feasible. Without it, I'd have had to either skip demos entirely or manually edit out personal content from every recording.
What it does
When privacy mode is on:
- All video clips get a heavy blur filter applied via FFmpeg before assembly
- All clip audio gets a blanket lowpass filter (200 Hz cutoff) that makes speech unintelligible while keeping bass/rhythm. This applies to all audio, not just detected speech.
- GPS coordinates are relocated to a fake city (preserving cluster shape so the map animation still looks real)
- Person names are replaced with deterministic fake names (same real name always maps to the same fake name)
- Title screens stay unblurred: the generated text, map animations, and location cards are unaffected (but show the fake locations/names)
The result is a video that demonstrates the timing, transitions, music, and structure of the memory without revealing any personal content.
How to enable
UI toggle
In the sidebar, there's a "Demo mode" switch. Toggling it on also blurs thumbnails in the clip review screen (via a CSS class on <body>), so even the preview doesn't show your footage.
CLI flag
Pass --privacy-mode to the generate command:
immich-memories generate --privacy-mode --year 2024
Config
server:
enable_demo_mode: true # Enable demo mode permanently
What gets anonymized
| Data | How it's handled |
|---|---|
| Video content | Heavy Gaussian blur filter |
| Audio | Blanket 200 Hz lowpass filter (all audio, not speech-detected) |
| GPS coordinates | Relocated to a fake city, cluster shape preserved |
| Person names | Replaced with deterministic fake names |
| Title screen text | Uses fake names and locations |
| Map animation | Shows fake destination, same visual style |
What stays unblurred
Title screens are always rendered clean:
- The opening title card with your trip name or year
- Animated satellite map fly-over
- Location interstitial cards
- The ending screen
Only the actual video clips get the blur treatment.