Key Takeaways
- Your photos in Google Photos are private by default & securely stored, and you have complete control over who sees them.
- Google Photos offers privacy controls & lets you opt out of features like Memories, keeping you in control of your experience.
- If you’re concerned about online privacy, there are alternative ways to secure your media, like using PhotoPrism on a NAS.
Google Photos is one of the most popular services out there in 2024. It’s not even a decade old, but it has already seen over one billion users who have collectively uploaded over four trillion photos and videos since its inception back in 2015. There are plenty of things to like about Google Photos, and it’s easy to see why it’s a popular choice for people.
I use Google Photos on a daily basis, and there’s a good chance that you do too. But have you ever wondered what happens to your photos when you upload them to Google Photos? Are your photos even private or are they available for everyone to see online?
Best Google Photos alternatives in 2024
Let’s take a look at some of the best Google Photos alternatives for your cloud storage needs.
Is your Google Photos library private?
Who all can view your media?
Google Photos is best known for backing up and automatically saving all your photos and videos to the cloud, so you can access them anywhere and anytime provided you have an active internet connection. While that does mean your photos and videos leave your device and move somewhere else on the internet, it is safe to say that they are safe and at least not out in the open for everyone to see.
That’s right, your library of media that you upload to Google Photos is only viewable by you unless you decide to share it with others. All your photos and videos are stored in secure storage, that too in encrypted form. Even the photos and videos that you choose to share with others are done safely, and you get complete control over how they’re shared. In fact, Google even lets you keep tabs on your sharing activity, ensuring you know exactly what you’ve shared with others and when.
Privacy controls in Google Photos
Google really puts you in control
A lot of features in Google Photos revolve around sharing your photos or at least giving Google permission to access them from your device. Thankfully, you have a lot of control over your experience — as you rightfully should — and you also get to choose the settings that are right for you. Features like ‘Selective backup’ let you pick and choose the media you share with Google.
Notably, Google Photos also lets you opt out of its features like Memories, Face Grouping, etc., so you don’t have to share your media directly with Google. Similarly, you can also disable Location History and location data in the camera app of your phone if you don’t want Google populating your photos in a Map View.
Don’t lose your sleep over it
All things considered, it is safe to say that Google Photos is fairly secure, and your photos and videos are safely tucked in Google’s cloud storage. They’re not available for anyone to see unless, of course, you choose to share them with your peers. Google also says it uses state-of-the-art facilities and infrastructure to protect your library, and that it doesn’t use them for ads purposes.
If you really are concerned about your online privacy, and don’t want to hand over your memories to Google, then there are plenty of other ways to secure your media and safely tuck it away from the world. You can even build a simple Google Photos alternative on your NAS with PhotoPrism, like my colleague Adam did. The entire process will only take a few minutes from start to finish, and you can be sure that your photos and videos aren’t leaving your home network.
[ad_2]
