Google has recognized the failure that occurred in November in its Google Photos service . This caused some users to obtain videos from strangers when requesting the export of photos data. An error that some users have already been warned of, but how can you avoid these problems in the future.
Google Photos and the problems of its Takeout tool
To keep you up to date, Takeout is the Google Photos tool that allows you to create a backup copy of your data stored in the service. This makes it easy to download your photos and videos in case you want to take them to another service or simply have a copy in a local location.
Whoa what? @googlephotos ? pic.twitter.com/2cZsABz1xb
– Jon Oberheide (@jonoberheide) February 4, 2020
Well, during November 21 and 25 , users who requested a backup could have received videos from them from other users. That is, an export failure could have made some of your videos available to strangers. The statement itself by a Google spokesman:
“We are notifying our users of an error that may have affected those who used Google Takeout to export their content from Google Photos between November 21 and 25. These users may have received an incomplete file or videos (not photos), that were not yours. We have solved the underlying problem and have conducted an in-depth analysis to prevent this from happening again. We are very sorry for the possible inconvenience. “
The problem has already been solved , but it is still uncomfortable to think that all this could happen again. If the users who received your backup follow the instructions and delete the content there will be no problem. Moreover, in principle there should be no problem as long as the content is not compromised and acted in good faith. Although nobody would like to think that their photos and videos could be in the hands of others without knowing it.
How to avoid problems with Google Photos in the future
“It is best to keep money on the mattress at home.” That phrase that you have surely heard on occasion may be the key to everything in the end. If you are one of those who distrust any cloud service, regardless of the manufacturer, the option you have is to store everything locally or within your own cloud.
Because an unintended error in the code can cause problems like this one in Google Photos. So, in case you don’t want to use Google Photos and other options for online photo and video galleries and storage, what options do you have. Well, the first is to have everything on local hard drives . But if you want to be able to access your photos from any location and via the internet, the best solution is to use a NAS.
Devices such as Synology, QNAP or ASUSTOR offer multimedia applications capable of managing your photos and videos as an online gallery . All you have to do is activate the application and copy all the content in the folder you decide to use to store them. If by any chance you have a file structure already generated you can move it directly.
These online NAS galleries are responsible for indexing all content and even generating thumbnails so that the preview of the files is much faster when you connect remotely. Then, depending on each of these solutions, you will have more or less options.
They are not as optimal as Google Photos, Amazon Photos or iCloud Photos, it will depend on what you need, but if you want to avoid these possible problems they are, a priori, the most effective option.
