A photo you upload is saved as two pictures. One is the photo itself. The other is a blurred copy. They are separate files.
3f2a9c14-91c7e0ab-Other members see the blurred copy while the photo is waiting to be approved. An explicit photo stays on that blurred copy until the person looking has verified their age and turned safe search off. You can also keep a public photo blurred, so other members only ever see the blurred copy, even after they have done both of those things. You still see the clear copy on your own photos page.
A private photo
A private photo is not used as your profile picture. A profile picture has to be public.
On your profile, another member does not open the picture. They see a lock. They are not sent the clear file. The picture under the lock is the blurred copy, like the second photo above. They can ask to see your private photos. You choose which ones to share, and a photo has to be approved before you can share it.
Sharing one photo with one member lets that person see the clear copy. It does not put the clear copy on your profile. Everyone else still sees the lock, and the only file they are sent is the blurred one. Until that person has verified their age, they stay on the blurred copy even after you share it.
A private photo in a message follows the same rule. The person you sent it to can see the clear copy once the photo is approved and they are allowed to see it. If they should still be looking at the blur, the message contains only the blurred file.
The blurred file does not lead to the clear one. Each file is given its own random name when it is saved. The names under the two pictures are an example, not files on the site. The clear picture is 3f2a9c14-. The blurred picture is not that name with blur, or original, or a number added. It is a second random name, 91c7e0ab-. A real pair looks like that. The name is not built from the other file, from your username, or from the name the photo had on your phone. Someone who can see the blurred picture cannot reach the clear picture by editing the address, changing one character, or guessing a nearby name. There is nothing in the blurred name that points at the clear one.
When another member opens your profile, or finds you in search, the site sends the address of the one picture they are allowed to see. It does not send the other address as well. A photo in a message follows the same rule.
Your own photos page can show you the clear copy, because you uploaded it. Other members do not get that from their copy of the page.
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