Google Photos are extremely deceptive

[goro-goro]

hello gang, i know this is very silly but i just felt like to rant it here and wanna know anyone else opinion or experience about this.

my parents ask me about why they cant recieve mails in their gmail account anymore in the past few weeks. upon inspecting, it was due to their gdrive storage was full, about 50% of it (7-8 gb file) was used by google photo. now if you check your android built in google photo app rn, theyre labeled as "Photo" app instead of google photo. as my parent not really a tech adept person (like they barely know much about IT) id imagine they mistook that app as gallery and accidently accept the backup option promt when first time opening it. after that, the logical thing to do is download all the photo/video files there and backing it up in a pc/laptop drive right? for some reason, they dont have a select all button to download or delete everything. they got like 5 years worth of photos and i dont have time clicking them one by one. it took some hours before my stubborn ass figure out how to do it by googling it. if i who moderately know how IT works struggle on this, id imagine people like my parent will never be able to deal with this, arent they supposed to be UI friendly since their service are basicaly being used by everyone. That got me thinking why would google do all of this, is this really just to push people subscribe to their monthly extra storage plan after they keep nagging you about it especially after putting your mails hostaged .

 

[solstice258]

arent they supposed to be UI friendly since their service are basicaly being used by everyone.

Haha... no.

That got me thinking why would google do all of this, is this really just to push people subscribe to their monthly extra storage plan

Unfortunately yes.

So when my mom got a new phone I disabled all the Google nonsense immediately (and I need a new one too, but I keep postponing it because of all this increasing bullshit)

 

[panzerkampfwagyu]

I still don't get why anyone would use Google Mail.
It has "We spy on your private correspondence and sell it to dubious folks" all over it.
Like, c'mon, you don't have to be a paranoid schizo like me to understand that

 

[athayanezant]

I still don't get why anyone would use Google Mail.
It has "We spy on your private correspondence and sell it to dubious folks" all over it.
Like, c'mon, you don't have to be a paranoid schizo like me to understand that

Maybe bcs it's the largest company that keeps butt in everywhere? Or maybe bcs it's easy to make an account there? Mostly boomers and X even some millennials i know are kinda don't trust and/or don't know any other mailing services.
I remembered when I want to login to my old account @/hotmail (Yahoo) they keep telling me the account wasn't belongs to me. And I'm like, wtf? My friendster account use that, my skype too, my very old blog even.
Then that problem logging in made me contacted them through email, what email I use? Gmail. Damn. Took 14 days to get my old email back. Now it's open, where? At Gmail app. Double damn.

But still, I don't use Google photos and drive. I trust my external memory that much, I don't need to saves something in online world.
But I was in their beta testing for their Hangouts and Google Plus.

Aaahhhh too much talking.

 

[Etnaz]

hello gang, i know this is very silly but i just felt like to rant it here and wanna know anyone else opinion or experience about this.

my parents ask me about why they cant recieve mails in their gmail account anymore in the past few weeks. upon inspecting, it was due to their gdrive storage was full, about 50% of it (7-8 gb file) was used by google photo. now if you check your android built in google photo app rn, theyre labeled as "Photo" app instead of google photo. as my parent not really a tech adept person (like they barely know much about IT) id imagine they mistook that app as gallery and accidently accept the backup option promt when first time opening it. after that, the logical thing to do is download all the photo/video files there and backing it up in a pc/laptop drive right? for some reason, they dont have a select all button to download or delete everything. they got like 5 years worth of photos and i dont have time clicking them one by one. it took some hours before my stubborn ass figure out how to do it by googling it. if i who moderately know how IT works struggle on this, id imagine people like my parent will never be able to deal with this, arent they supposed to be UI friendly since their service are basicaly being used by everyone. That got me thinking why would google do all of this, is this really just to push people subscribe to their monthly extra storage plan after they keep nagging you about it especially after putting your mails hostaged .

How naive.

 

[Tony_Mushah]

I still don't get why anyone would use Google Mail.
It has "We spy on your private correspondence and sell it to dubious folks" all over it.
Like, c'mon, you don't have to be a paranoid schizo like me to understand that

Because Google Services are the "go-to, free, and popular" tech thingy that is easy to use and mostly accessible anywhere in world.

 

[Angry_Panda]

Because Google Services are the "go-to, free, and popular" tech thingy that is easy to use and mostly accessible anywhere in world.

Also, they've been around for quite a while, and have never gotten a big black eye from a massively publicized hack.

 

[panzerkampfwagyu]

I mean, I was already online during the time Google Mail launched.
And when it launched, I was like "Lol, obvious spyware, who would be stupid enough to fall for that." in german.
Google already had the reputation of a data leech during that time.

 

[Isobe-jan]

So anyone have any recs for good and free android image galleries?

 

[solstice258]

So anyone have any recs for good and free android image galleries?

W-what do you mean? Android phones don't come with a built-in gallery app anymore?
Did they ruin it that much now?

 

[Isobe-jan]

W-what do you mean? Android phones don't come with a built-in gallery app anymore?
Did they ruin it that much now?

The built in gallery app is now fully google-ized (at least for me) and as said above google is not to be trusted

 

[panzerkampfwagyu]

The built in gallery app is now fully google-ized (at least for me) and as said above google is not to be trusted

At this point, your best bet is an android free system.
Though, in the meantime, fdroid has some

 

[Koneko_Nyaa]

So...
Google photos is preinstalled on many android phones. (Especially Google's own)
Backup is on by default.
(If there is a permission prompt, it is intentionally made to be easy overlook or dismiss with the default result of backup being turned on.)

My conclusion it this:

• Google wants to collect, profile, and sell your data.
  • All features that compromise your privacy are ON by default.
  • The "OFF" switch is hidden where you won't easily find it.
• They want you to use up your storage quota so that they can sell you a subscription.
  • The shared storage quota across your whole Google account is designed to hold your e-mail hostage by apps that use it up more quickly.
  • The "unlimited" storage bundled with Pixel phones is, in fact, limited - after some time it expires and all the photos you were storing for "free" suddenly start counting towards the quota.
  • There is no bulk delete option for google photos. Freeing up space is intentionally more difficult than paying for more storage.

Everything you describe is INTENDED behavior by Google. They WANT to prey on users who are not both technically literate and extremely careful. They want your data AND your money and their "products" are designed to guide you into letting them have it.

Using Google photos is risky.
The article in the link makes it clear that Google AI is going through your content. If something gets flagged (even incorrectly), a human at Google is then also going through your content. Otherwise the AI is just using every photo you ever take with your phone to track and profile you in really creepy ways. Even if you don't unknowingly upload something that will get you banned+reported, this is an extreme invasion of your privacy.

I recommend uninstalling or disabling the "Photos" app immediately and switching to a free (as in freedom) alternative like Aves Libre or Fossify Gallery.

 

[Tony_Mushah]

The article in the link makes it clear that Google AI is going through your content. If something gets flagged (even incorrectly), a human at Google is then also going through your content. Otherwise the AI is just using every photo you ever take with your phone to track and profile you in really creepy ways. Even if you don't unknowingly upload something that will get you banned+reported, this is an extreme invasion of your privacy.

I can already imagine this going into wild proportions.
Imagine i take photo of my cute little toddler just who birth but then suddenly the police is knocking in my door because flagged it as p******.
I am glad i live in a country where most of people cannot the web.

 

[Koneko_Nyaa]

I can already imagine this going into wild proportions.
Imagine i take photo of my cute little toddler just who birth but then suddenly the police is knocking in my door because flagged it as p******.
I am glad i live in a country where most of people cannot the web.

IMO, the real criminal in the linked article is the "moderator" at Google who accessed a child's medical records, viewed what he/she considered to be CP, and then forwarded "CP" to more people to look at.

To the father, the doctor, and the police it was a necessary part of the telemedicine process. To the moderator at Google, it was CP. Nudity becomes pornography when viewed in a sexual way. It was the moderator at Google who sexualized the child.

I'll add that there must be humans working at Google who spend their time sourcing and downloading real CP to train their AI tools with. Google's "training data" is surely much more extensive than the collections of all the people who actually go to jail for CP. That surely can't be legal.

 

[Bireus]

So anyone have any recs for good and free android image galleries?

https://github.com/immich-app/immich