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Some Google Photos videos in backups were sent to strangers in November

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21–30 of 143 posts

Re: Some Google Photos videos in backups were sent to strangers in November

#21
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google Photos is pretty great though. My use case for it is that even though it's private, I assume that any photo on there could become public.

I, too, was a fan of Google Photos in the early days. But I've decided that privacy is more important than the convenience of its syncing feature. You never know how that data might come back and bite you in the future. I have an iPhone but I don't use iCloud's backup or sync feature either, I just store my photos locally. I backup my iPhone to my iMac, and I backup my iMac to my Synology NAS in my closet. I try to k…

One of the favorite features I have of the Plex Server, is that the Plex app will automatically back up photos on your phone to your Plex server, which can run on Synology as well (mine's on an ODroid HC connected up to a multi-TB drive with backup drive).

Re: Some Google Photos videos in backups were sent to strangers in November

#22

The usual argument for using "cloud" over managing your own files/data is that it's very hard to safely manage your own data without making mistakes (data loss, etc). However, this is an example of how companies like Google also make mistakes. Furthermore, when Google/FB makes a mistake (like leaking your private data) they do it at a global scale. I offboarded myself from all of Google's services a while ago, but I…

I would like to say that Nextcloud, while it is not trvial to set up, is very very good at helping you set up the server securely. They additionally have a way to testing your server to make sure you did set it up, and helps you to correct issues.

I would love to see Nextcloud create a "time machine" type box, where it runs both as your router and as a "home cloud" service. That way it would be much easier to configure it as a public facing service.

Re: Some Google Photos videos in backups were sent to strangers in November

#23
post #12
post #5

This is big, and has GDPR fine written all over it. And I'm sure this will not be the last time we hear about this. Also, very curious to learn more of the technical details down the road?

Does gdpr forbid mistakes?

no, but "In the case of a personal data breach, the controller shall without undue delay and, where feasible, not later than 72 hours after having become aware of it, notify the personal data breach to the supervisory authority competent in accordance with Article 55"

Re: Some Google Photos videos in backups were sent to strangers in November

#24
post #22

The usual argument for using "cloud" over managing your own files/data is that it's very hard to safely manage your own data without making mistakes (data loss, etc). However, this is an example of how companies like Google also make mistakes. Furthermore, when Google/FB makes a mistake (like leaking your private data) they do it at a global scale. I offboarded myself from all of Google's services a while ago, but I…

I would like to say that Nextcloud, while it is not trvial to set up, is very very good at helping you set up the server securely. They additionally have a way to testing your server to make sure you did set it up, and helps you to correct issues. I would love to see Nextcloud create a "time machine" type box, where it runs both as your router and as a "home cloud" service. That way it would be much easier to configu…

I haven't used Nextcloud, but I'm excited about a future of Notcloud products.

Re: Some Google Photos videos in backups were sent to strangers in November

#25

The usual argument for using "cloud" over managing your own files/data is that it's very hard to safely manage your own data without making mistakes (data loss, etc). However, this is an example of how companies like Google also make mistakes. Furthermore, when Google/FB makes a mistake (like leaking your private data) they do it at a global scale. I offboarded myself from all of Google's services a while ago, but I…

What did you replace Gmail and GDocs with? I've successfully moved to Firefox and DuckDuckGo, but am struggling to get off Docs and Gmail.

Re: Some Google Photos videos in backups were sent to strangers in November

#27
post #25

The usual argument for using "cloud" over managing your own files/data is that it's very hard to safely manage your own data without making mistakes (data loss, etc). However, this is an example of how companies like Google also make mistakes. Furthermore, when Google/FB makes a mistake (like leaking your private data) they do it at a global scale. I offboarded myself from all of Google's services a while ago, but I…

What did you replace Gmail and GDocs with? I've successfully moved to Firefox and DuckDuckGo, but am struggling to get off Docs and Gmail.

Fastmail for mail, and I use git for most document-type storage. If I absolutely need a spreadsheet, I just use Apple's Numbers which is mostly crap, but good enough.

Re: Some Google Photos videos in backups were sent to strangers in November

#28
post #19

The usual argument for using "cloud" over managing your own files/data is that it's very hard to safely manage your own data without making mistakes (data loss, etc). However, this is an example of how companies like Google also make mistakes. Furthermore, when Google/FB makes a mistake (like leaking your private data) they do it at a global scale. I offboarded myself from all of Google's services a while ago, but I…

Google Photos is pretty great though. My use case for it is that even though it's private, I assume that any photo on there could become public.

Not everyone thinks this way, there is an expectation of privacy in the minds of most users.

Re: Some Google Photos videos in backups were sent to strangers in November

#29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you use for email over Gmail?

I used Fastmail until they randomly deleted a large chunk of my emails and the support followup was abysmal (one email a day around 4am EST) with no ability to recover, explanation or apology on their part. It was the push I needed to set up a Mailinabox instance. It was a breeze to install and has been working great since I spun it up four months ago.

As a recent convert from gmail to fastmail, this scares the hell out of me. How long did this go on before you pulled the plug?

I am not Australian/located in Australia so I would have about as much recourse with fastmail as I would with google (ie. none).

Re: Some Google Photos videos in backups were sent to strangers in November

#30

The usual argument for using "cloud" over managing your own files/data is that it's very hard to safely manage your own data without making mistakes (data loss, etc). However, this is an example of how companies like Google also make mistakes. Furthermore, when Google/FB makes a mistake (like leaking your private data) they do it at a global scale. I offboarded myself from all of Google's services a while ago, but I…

What do you use for email over Gmail?

tutanota here. It's pretty good and cheap - except missing ICS import/export for calendar which is annoying.
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