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This is great for some situations. However, my personal policy is to upload my protest content to Google Photos asap (if appropriate). This makes sure your cont

by cowmix 6y ago

This is great for some situations. However, my personal policy is to upload my protest content to Google Photos asap (if appropriate). This makes sure your content is off your device if your phone gets confiscated AND it provides (be it thin) layer of authenticity/validation of the content.

drocer88 6y ago
Can't they find photos from others, examine the angle of your photos and prove it was you that took the pictures? They can also subpeona your carrier for records indicating you were a location at a certain time. I can see some diligent prosecutors going back and looking at data to gather evidence.
- jcims 6y ago
  I think the point is protecting custody of the photo rather than disavow taking it.
thanksforfish 6y ago
See also, the ACLU Mobile Justice app: https://www.aclu.org/issues/criminal-law-reform/reforming-police/aclu-apps-record-police-conduct https://www.aclu.org/issues/criminal-law-reform/reforming-po...
clairity 6y ago
> "...Google Photos..." everything you said was good except this. google is not your (or the protesters') friend.
wiml 6y ago
You might also be interested in the CameraV / InformaCam project: https://guardianproject.github.io/informacam-guide/en/InformacamGuide.html https://guardianproject.github.io/informacam-guide/en/Inform...
mceachen 6y ago
Google Photos isn't going to provide you with any authenticity claims, and metadata gets scrambled by both their "high quality" and "original" settings. If you want to make sure the actual, original image gets stored safely on another device automatically, use SyncThing or Resilio Sync.
- pgalvin 6y ago
  > metadata gets scrambled by both their "high quality" and "original" settings. This is NOT true, at least for the "original" setting. Upload an image, download it again - the checksums are identical. If you modify the time/date or add comments within Google Photos, that new information is kept in a .json file instead of the exif data, but Google NEVER modifies the original photo if you select "original" quality.
  - mceachen 6y ago
    That's not my experience with a couple Google Pixels, using original quality. If you fetch your image via takeout or via the API, the image bytes are the same, but the EXIF headers have been changed. I've tried in both a standard Gmail account and a custom domain. Same behavior. Are you saying your file SHA is the same from your device and your takeout? I wonder if I am seeing US-account-exclusive behavior?
    - pgalvin 6y ago
      Yep, the SHA1/256 checksum of the original on my Android device is the same as the one from both Google Takeout and downloading from the Google Photos Web UI. Same for the .heic files on my iPhone, too.
      - mceachen 6y ago
        Interesting, thanks for sharing. I wonder what's different between our accounts and devices.

by cowmix 6y ago

drocer88 6y ago

Can't they find photos from others, examine the angle of your photos and prove it was you that took the pictures? They can also subpeona your carrier for records indicating you were a location at a certain time. I can see some diligent prosecutors going back and looking at data to gather evidence.

jcims 6y ago
I think the point is protecting custody of the photo rather than disavow taking it.

thanksforfish 6y ago

See also, the ACLU Mobile Justice app: https://www.aclu.org/issues/criminal-law-reform/reforming-police/aclu-apps-record-police-conduct https://www.aclu.org/issues/criminal-law-reform/reforming-po...

clairity 6y ago

> "...Google Photos..." everything you said was good except this. google is not your (or the protesters') friend.

wiml 6y ago

You might also be interested in the CameraV / InformaCam project: https://guardianproject.github.io/informacam-guide/en/InformacamGuide.html https://guardianproject.github.io/informacam-guide/en/Inform...

mceachen 6y ago

Google Photos isn't going to provide you with any authenticity claims, and metadata gets scrambled by both their "high quality" and "original" settings. If you want to make sure the actual, original image gets stored safely on another device automatically, use SyncThing or Resilio Sync.

pgalvin 6y ago
> metadata gets scrambled by both their "high quality" and "original" settings. This is NOT true, at least for the "original" setting. Upload an image, download it again - the checksums are identical. If you modify the time/date or add comments within Google Photos, that new information is kept in a .json file instead of the exif data, but Google NEVER modifies the original photo if you select "original" quality.
- mceachen 6y ago
  That's not my experience with a couple Google Pixels, using original quality. If you fetch your image via takeout or via the API, the image bytes are the same, but the EXIF headers have been changed. I've tried in both a standard Gmail account and a custom domain. Same behavior. Are you saying your file SHA is the same from your device and your takeout? I wonder if I am seeing US-account-exclusive behavior?
  - pgalvin 6y ago
    Yep, the SHA1/256 checksum of the original on my Android device is the same as the one from both Google Takeout and downloading from the Google Photos Web UI. Same for the .heic files on my iPhone, too.
    - mceachen 6y ago
      Interesting, thanks for sharing. I wonder what's different between our accounts and devices.