4 ms·

Google Photos, with all your Android pics, already "automatically analyzes photos, identifying ... People, Places, and Things. Google Photos recognizes faces, g

Google Photos, with all your Android pics, already "automatically analyzes photos, identifying ... People, Places, and Things. Google Photos recognizes faces, grouping similar ones together; geographic landmarks (such as the Eiffel Tower); and subject matter, including birthdays, buildings, animals, food, and more." https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Photos https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Photos

ComputerGuru 8y ago
Yes, but their reason (at least ostensibly) is so that you can search for photos by their content. (yeah, yeah, I hear ya.)
- auslander 8y ago
  I'm amused every time i see Android phone in hands of my tech-literate friends :)
  - jvolkman 8y ago
    Why?
    - auslander 8y ago
      iPhones today are roughly the same price as top Androids, and are not running Ad company spyware.
      - dirkgently 8y ago
        Spyware? Any evidence of this or you are just high on Apple Kool aid / Google hate?
        deleted 8y ago
        [deleted]
      - int_19h 8y ago
        Conversely, they're not locked up tight such that there's only One True Browser etc, which kinda matters to power users.
        IOT_Apprentice 8y ago
        Power users doing exactly what with their browser?
        int_19h 8y ago
        Installing a different one, e.g. because they want a better UX, or some features that the standard one is missing.
        ComputerGuru 8y ago
        Firefox, Edge, Chrome, Opera, and more are available on iOS. Each have their own unique features and UX. The only thing not allowed is a rendering engine other than WebKit via the iOS webview component.
Puer 8y ago
It's much more than that. :) If you have a large collection of photos uploaded to google, you can make some pretty insidious searches that will return extremely accurate results. Try searching "bikini" if you have any snapshots from your beach vacation uploaded. Even with all location metadata/camera information stripped from the images, Google was able to find 99% of them using keyword searches like that. You can go further and search specific body parts, too. I think that's pretty creepy as well. The typical HN response is to dismiss arguments like this with, "Well, don't be so careless to upload photos in the first place!" but what happens when laypeople use Google Photos as marketed and as a backup service for their entire lives? I don't think those people would be comfortable knowing that Google can not only accurately identify 1) people and their friends implicitly and 2) identify when those people are scantily clad or nude. Just imagine a bad actor getting access to your photos via Google and being able to instantly pull up any compromising or sensitive information you may have forgotten about with a simple keyword search because that's something they, for some reason, index.
- auslander 8y ago
  And even more :) Someone, sometime, took a party photo with you in background on Android. Google recognized your sorry mug, and stamped it with location, date, time and list of present people. And now it is evidence in court.
- llampx 8y ago
  You can search for documents and scans too, if I'm not mistaken. Any bills, certificates, other documents etc you may have photographed can be trivially pulled.

ComputerGuru 8y ago

Yes, but their reason (at least ostensibly) is so that you can search for photos by their content. (yeah, yeah, I hear ya.)

auslander 8y ago
I'm amused every time i see Android phone in hands of my tech-literate friends :)
- jvolkman 8y ago
  Why?
  - auslander 8y ago
    iPhones today are roughly the same price as top Androids, and are not running Ad company spyware.
    - dirkgently 8y ago
      Spyware? Any evidence of this or you are just high on Apple Kool aid / Google hate?
      - deleted 8y ago
        [deleted]
    - int_19h 8y ago
      Conversely, they're not locked up tight such that there's only One True Browser etc, which kinda matters to power users.
      - IOT_Apprentice 8y ago
        Power users doing exactly what with their browser?
        int_19h 8y ago
        Installing a different one, e.g. because they want a better UX, or some features that the standard one is missing.
        ComputerGuru 8y ago
        Firefox, Edge, Chrome, Opera, and more are available on iOS. Each have their own unique features and UX. The only thing not allowed is a rendering engine other than WebKit via the iOS webview component.

Puer 8y ago

It's much more than that. :) If you have a large collection of photos uploaded to google, you can make some pretty insidious searches that will return extremely accurate results. Try searching "bikini" if you have any snapshots from your beach vacation uploaded. Even with all location metadata/camera information stripped from the images, Google was able to find 99% of them using keyword searches like that. You can go further and search specific body parts, too. I think that's pretty creepy as well. The typical HN response is to dismiss arguments like this with, "Well, don't be so careless to upload photos in the first place!" but what happens when laypeople use Google Photos as marketed and as a backup service for their entire lives? I don't think those people would be comfortable knowing that Google can not only accurately identify 1) people and their friends implicitly and 2) identify when those people are scantily clad or nude. Just imagine a bad actor getting access to your photos via Google and being able to instantly pull up any compromising or sensitive information you may have forgotten about with a simple keyword search because that's something they, for some reason, index.

auslander 8y ago
And even more :) Someone, sometime, took a party photo with you in background on Android. Google recognized your sorry mug, and stamped it with location, date, time and list of present people. And now it is evidence in court.
llampx 8y ago
You can search for documents and scans too, if I'm not mistaken. Any bills, certificates, other documents etc you may have photographed can be trivially pulled.