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Google doesn't send your pictures to their servers without your explicit consent. This is exactly what users expect. On Android, you can use your own self-hoste

Google doesn't send your pictures to their servers without your explicit consent. This is exactly what users expect. On Android, you can use your own self-hosted photos server and have it work exactly the same way Google Photos does. Google Photos does not have access to private Google-only APIs like Apple Photos has on iOS.

GeekyBear 2y ago
> Google doesn't send your pictures to their servers without your explicit consent. The parents Google tried to get arrested in the story above do not agree. > When Mark’s and Cassio’s photos were automatically uploaded from their phones to Google’s servers, this technology flagged them. Jon Callas of the E.F.F. called the scanning intrusive, saying a family photo album on someone’s personal device should be a “private sphere.” (A Google spokeswoman said the company scans only when an “affirmative action” is taken by a user; that includes when the user’s phone backs up photos to the company’s cloud.) Google not only automatically uploaded their images to their server, it analyzed those images and reported the users to the police for kiddie porn based on a single false positive.
- johnisgood 2y ago
  > user’s phone backs up photos to the company’s cloud. I never enable cloud backups, because it means my shit is sent somewhere.
  - GeekyBear 2y ago
    You don't have to enable it, since Google backs up your photos to their servers by default. Then they proceed to claim those automatic backups are an "affirmative action" that justifies them scanning the contents of your images as well.
    - fauigerzigerk 2y ago
      >You don't have to enable it, since Google backs up your photos to their servers by default. When setting up a new phone (and many times thereafter) they prompt you to enable photos backup. It's not on by default if I remember correctly.
      - johnisgood 2y ago
        It is not enabled by default if we trust it. In fact, I am not even logged in to Google.
      - blincoln 2y ago
        If you don't enable backup, Google Photos randomly reprompts on a regular basis with a "sure would be a shame if something happened to your photos!" modal. It's very easy to accidentally turn it on without noticing when this happens, if one has preemptively clicked where they expect a different UI element to be.
    - brokenmachine 2y ago
      It's not on by default. It asks when you first add your account to Android.
    - lern_too_spel 2y ago
      > Google backs up your photos to their servers by default. You keep saying that, but it remains false. The parents explicitly opted in to sending their photos to Google.
- brokenmachine 2y ago
  When I first ran Google Photos on my Android phone, it asked me if I want to enable automatic backup to Google. There were definitely some dark patterns there, but it was easy and obvious how to opt out. If you care about not sending photos to Google, it's pretty obvious how to not have that happen. IMO, Google is not the bad guy here, although when it was explained to them that the photos were legitimate, they should definitely have reenabled the account. I'm OK with Google scanning photos that I send to them that will be stored on their servers. Honestly, how can they not?
colanderman 2y ago
Google Photos "consent" is one of the worst dark patterns I regularly encounter. About weekly it prompts me with a huge popup whether I want to continue without backup, with "enable backup" selected by default. If I deselect this I'm prompted with another popup asking me to back up specific selected photos. If I misclick either of these (which is easy, since they pop up after briefly showing my photos which I'm actively trying to tap on), then Google will start hoovering up all my photos without confirmation. Their "consent" form is user-hostile and it's disingenuous to hold it as an example of Google protecting privacy. Pro tip: install Google Gallery which (ironically) is effectively a de-Googled Photos. Unfortunately it's also stripped down in other ways but it suffices for simply viewing photos on your own device.

GeekyBear 2y ago

> Google doesn't send your pictures to their servers without your explicit consent. The parents Google tried to get arrested in the story above do not agree. > When Mark’s and Cassio’s photos were automatically uploaded from their phones to Google’s servers, this technology flagged them. Jon Callas of the E.F.F. called the scanning intrusive, saying a family photo album on someone’s personal device should be a “private sphere.” (A Google spokeswoman said the company scans only when an “affirmative action” is taken by a user; that includes when the user’s phone backs up photos to the company’s cloud.) Google not only automatically uploaded their images to their server, it analyzed those images and reported the users to the police for kiddie porn based on a single false positive.

johnisgood 2y ago
> user’s phone backs up photos to the company’s cloud. I never enable cloud backups, because it means my shit is sent somewhere.
- GeekyBear 2y ago
  You don't have to enable it, since Google backs up your photos to their servers by default. Then they proceed to claim those automatic backups are an "affirmative action" that justifies them scanning the contents of your images as well.
  - fauigerzigerk 2y ago
    >You don't have to enable it, since Google backs up your photos to their servers by default. When setting up a new phone (and many times thereafter) they prompt you to enable photos backup. It's not on by default if I remember correctly.
    - johnisgood 2y ago
      It is not enabled by default if we trust it. In fact, I am not even logged in to Google.
    - blincoln 2y ago
      If you don't enable backup, Google Photos randomly reprompts on a regular basis with a "sure would be a shame if something happened to your photos!" modal. It's very easy to accidentally turn it on without noticing when this happens, if one has preemptively clicked where they expect a different UI element to be.
  - brokenmachine 2y ago
    It's not on by default. It asks when you first add your account to Android.
  - lern_too_spel 2y ago
    > Google backs up your photos to their servers by default. You keep saying that, but it remains false. The parents explicitly opted in to sending their photos to Google.
brokenmachine 2y ago
When I first ran Google Photos on my Android phone, it asked me if I want to enable automatic backup to Google. There were definitely some dark patterns there, but it was easy and obvious how to opt out. If you care about not sending photos to Google, it's pretty obvious how to not have that happen. IMO, Google is not the bad guy here, although when it was explained to them that the photos were legitimate, they should definitely have reenabled the account. I'm OK with Google scanning photos that I send to them that will be stored on their servers. Honestly, how can they not?

colanderman 2y ago

Google Photos "consent" is one of the worst dark patterns I regularly encounter. About weekly it prompts me with a huge popup whether I want to continue without backup, with "enable backup" selected by default. If I deselect this I'm prompted with another popup asking me to back up specific selected photos. If I misclick either of these (which is easy, since they pop up after briefly showing my photos which I'm actively trying to tap on), then Google will start hoovering up all my photos without confirmation. Their "consent" form is user-hostile and it's disingenuous to hold it as an example of Google protecting privacy. Pro tip: install Google Gallery which (ironically) is effectively a de-Googled Photos. Unfortunately it's also stripped down in other ways but it suffices for simply viewing photos on your own device.