Why iPhone, iPad And Mac Users Should Avoid Google Photos

After an awkward delay, Google has now filed privacy labels for all its major apps on Apple's App Store—including Google Photos. And just like ... BETAThisisaBETAexperience.Youmayopt-outby clickinghereMoreFromForbesApr9,2022,08:15amEDTApple’sHugeiPhoneMistake—BadNewsFor1BillionUsersApr9,2022,06:45amEDTWhyUpdatingYourFacebookMessengerAppIsDangerousApr9,2022,06:30amEDTiOS16Release—MostWantedNewiPhoneFeaturesComingThisFallApr9,2022,06:00amEDTSeriousSecurityShockForMillionsOfSamsungGalaxy(Android9-12)UsersApr9,2022,05:30amEDTThese6DangerousPhoneAppsNeedToBeDeletedImmediatelyApr9,2022,04:35amEDTWarningForRussianSoldiersWithStolenUkrainianiPhones:YouAreBeingTrackedApr6,2022,05:40amEDTCanadaMovesToForceTechFirmsToShareRevenuesWithNewsPublishersApr6,2022,02:57amEDTGoogleSuddenlyIssuesNewEmergencySecurityUpdateFor3.2BillionChromeUsersEditStoryCybersecurityWhyiPhone,iPadAndMacUsersShouldAvoidGooglePhotosZakDoffmanContributorOpinionsexpressedbyForbesContributorsaretheirown.CybersecurityIcoversecurityandsurveillanceandco-host'StraightTalkingCyber'May8,2021,06:30amEDT|SharetoFacebookSharetoTwitterSharetoLinkedin GooglePhotosnowstores4trillionphotosandvideosformorethanabillionusers.EvenmillionsofiPhone,iPadandMacuserspreferittoApple’salternative—bettersearch,morefeatures,cheaperstorage(atleastuntilJune1).Butifyou'reamongthem,Google’slatestdataharvestingadmissionanditscontinuedblockonakeyAppleprivacymeasureshouldserveasaseriouswarningthatit’snowtimetoswitch. Afteranotherweekwhereit’sFacebook’sdataharvestingthathasmadeheadlines,withdisingenuousAppTrackingTransparencynotificationsandSignalpostingabrutalreminderastotheinvasivenatureofthedataheldonus,let’snotforgetthatGoogleisamuchbiggerdataempireforgedfromthedigitalmarketinggoldrush. Afteranawkwarddelay,GooglehasnowfiledprivacylabelsforallitsmajorappsonApple’sAppStore—includingGooglePhotos.AndjustlikeGmailandChromeandMaps,GooglePhotospresentsastarkcontrasttoitsAppleequivalent. ApplePhotosVsGooglePhotos ApplePrivacyLabels/@UKZak Asever,thesheerscopeofdatathatGooglePhotossaysitmightcollectisstark.Googlestressesthat“AppPrivacylabelsshowallpossibledatathatcouldbecollected,buttheactualdatacollecteddependsonthespecificfeaturesapersondecidestouse.”So,forexample,“we’llcollectcontactinfoifyouwanttoshareyourphotosandvideoswithothers,orifyoudecidetopurchaseaphotobook,we’llcollectyourpaymentinformationandstoreyourpurchasehistory.Butthisdatawouldn’tbecollectedifyouchosenottosharephotosormakeapurchase.” MOREFROMFORBESADVISORBestTravelInsuranceCompaniesByAmyDaniseEditorBestCovid-19TravelInsurancePlansByAmyDaniseEditor Thisisimportant.Anditexplainswhythereareseemingodditieslikepurchasehistoryandpaymentinformationthatmightbecollectedbyaphotosapp.GooglealsopointsoutthatiCloudisthestorageplatformbehindApple’sPhotosapp,whereasGooglePhotosoffersstorageaswellasitsotherfeatures. Butthereisafundamentallydifferentapproachtoprivacyhereaswell—andultimatelyitcomesdowntotrust.Applesetsouttoputuserprivacyfirst,ithasbecomeoneofthecompany’suniquesellingpoints.Andthat’scrediblebecauseAppleisaproductcompany.Ifyoudon’tbuyitsdevicesandservices,itdoesn’tmakemoney. Googleisverydifferent.Itmakesmostofitsmoneybysellingaccesstoyoubyshowingyouads.Andthemoretailoredandtargetedthoseadsare,themorelikelyyouaretorespondandbuy,andthemoremoneyGooglecanchargeitscustomerstoshowyouthoseads.Everythingwe’renowtalkingaboutasregardsprivacyflowsbacktothatsimplepremise.That’swhySafariblockstrackerswhereasChromeistrialingitsconvoluted,flawedFLoCsolutiontomaintainitstargetedadmachine. MOREFROMFORBESWhyYouNeedToUpdateYourSamsung5GPhoneAfterCriticalNewWarningBynull AsGoogleexplains,“ifyouwatchvideosaboutbakingonYouTube,youmayseemoreadsthatrelatetobakingasyoubrowsetheweb.WealsomayuseyourIPaddresstodetermineyourapproximatelocation,sothatwecanserveyouadsforanearbypizzadeliveryserviceifyousearchfor‘pizza’.” Thatallseemsfairlyharmless,buttheprofilesthatcompanieslikeGoogleandFacebookcanbuildoneachofusismuchmoregranularthanthis.Eachdatapointenablesanadvertisertospecifictheaudienceitwantstoreach.AndwhilewealllikePizza,thesamedataanalyticscanbeusedtoinfluenceouropinionsandtailoroursocialmediastreamstoensurethatwelivewithinourownechochambers,keepingusengagedandonlineforlonger,sellingusmorestuffandshapingourpointsofview. Everyapp,everyplatform,everyservicethatfuelstheseprofilessimplyexacerbatesthissituation.Andso,whileGoogleandFacebookwillemphasizethatthestarkprivacylabelsassociatedwiththeirappsenhancestheirservicesandouruserexperience,italsoensuresthatthe$100billion-plusinadrevenueskeepflowing. Andso,youcanformaview.Youcanaskyourselfwhetherit’sacoincidencethatGoogleandFacebookhaveprivacylabelsthataresooutofkilterwithApple’s,thatit’ssimplyaconsequenceofhowthoseappswork,ofyoucan“followthemoney.”GoogleandFacebookmaketheirrevenuefromdigitaladvertising,whileApplemakesitsownfromsellingdevicesandaservicesecosystem.Themathisn'tcomplicatedhere. There’salittletwistwiththeseprivacylabels.Theydifferentiatebetween“datalinkedtoyou”and“datanotlinkedtoyou.”Ifdataisnotlinked,itenablesadevelopertohoneitsservices,tomanageitsperformance,totrackcharacteristicsofitsusage,eventolookatthelocationswhereitsappmightbeinuse.Ifthatdataislinked,thenthedevelopercantieeachofthosedatafieldsbacktoyou,feedingitsprofileonyou. ApplePhotosVsGooglePhotos ApplePrivacyLabels/@UKZak WithApple’sandGoogle’sphotoapps,thedifferencewithsuchunlinkeddataisjustasstark.WhileApplecoulddobetterhereaswell,theonlydatathatGoogledoesnotlinkbacktoyouridentityisthediagnosticsbehindappcrashes.Thinkthatthrough. GooglePhotosisacomplexplatform,andtherearereasonsthatusersmightneedtoshareinformationwithGoogletoenjoyitsfullfunctionally.Butremember,there’saphilosophyatplayhere.IfwelookatChrome,Google’sdominantbrowser,you’llseethatsamepattern—toomuchdata,alllinkedtoidentities,nothingunlinked.Andit’smuchhardertoarguethatChromeisfundamentallydifferenttoSafari(andtheothers)inthewaythecompanyanglesthedifferencesbetweenphotosapps. ChromeVsRivals ApplePrivacyLabels/@UKZak Andso,itreallydoescomedowntotrust.Google’sCEOSundarPichaihasassuredthat“wedon’tuseinformationinappswhereyouprimarilystorepersonalcontent—suchasGmail,Drive,CalendarandPhotos—foradvertisingpurposes,period.”But,evenifweignorethatadvertising/marketingisonGooglePhotos’privacylabel,advertisingiscomplex,anditdoesn’tneedtobedirectlylinkedtoaspecificactivitytofuelaprofilefromwhichhyper-scaledataharvesterscanderivestaggeringvalue. GooglearguesthatApplehasauniquevantagepointwithitsownusers,pullingdatafromdifferentsources.ButGooglepushesitsusers,onAppledevicesaselsewhere,tosetupGoogleaccounts,whichmeansithasameanstostoreitsownunifyingdatarepositoryforAppleusersinthesamewayasitcanonitsownAndroidOS. IfyouareanAppleuserwithGooglePhotosononeofyourdevices,thenherearethreefurtherthoughtstokeepinmind—assumingtheprivacylabelsdon’tconvinceyoutoconsiderswitchingtoanalternative,despiteallthoseextrafeatures. First,there’saseriousdifferenceinhowAppleandGoogleanalyzeyourphotostoenablecategorization,mapsandsearch.Apple’sPhotoApp“usesmachinelearningtoorganizephotosrightonyourdevice.So,youdon’tneedtosharethemwithAppleoranyoneelse.”WhatthatmeansisthattheanalyticsisnotdoneoniCloud’sservers,unlikecompetingcloud-basedphotoservices,includingGoogle’s. MOREFROMFORBESWhyYouShouldAvoidGoogleChrome'sNewFLoCTrackingBynull Analyzingallthosephotos,allthatmetadata,isofcoursejustmorerawinformationtofeedtheall-important,all-encompassingalgorithms.Thatanalysisfuelsthetargetedads,drivesinfluencedclicks,buildsuptheprofile,andenablesGoogleandotherstoanalyzeyouamongmillionsofothers,categorizingyouwithAI,toinferwhatitcanassumeaboutyourlikelybehaviorsandthelikelybehaviorsofothers. Applewarnsthat“someservicesprocessphotosinthecloud,whichgivesthemaccesstoyourphotos.ButwedesignedPhotostoprocessyourimagesdirectlyonyourMac,iPhoneandiPad.Infact,theAppleNeural EnginewiththeA13andA14 Bionicchipsperformsover100billionoperationsperphototorecognizefacesandplaceswithouteverleavingyourdevice.Andwhenappsrequestaccesstoyourphotos,youcansharejusttheimagesyouwant—notyourentirelibrary.” ThatlastpointinanotherswipeatGoogle,leadingtothesecondcriticalconsiderationforanyiPhoneuserwithGooglePhotosontheirphone.WhenApplereleasediOS14lastyear,itgaveuserstheoptiontoshareonlyselectedphotosandvideoswithapps,ratherthantheirentirecollection.Whyshouldanapphaveaccesstoyearsofmemories,whenallyouwanttodoiseditafewphotosorvideos? Well,Googledoesn’tbuyintothislimitationwhenitcomestoiPhoneusers.WhenyouinstallGooglePhotosyouwillreceiveamessagetellingyouthat“GooglePhotosneedsaccesstoallyourphotos.”Itsaysthisistoview,shareoruseitsoptionalbackups.Butfromaprivacyperspectivethemessageismuchclearer.Allornothing,andyou’reshiftingallthatdataoutofApple’sprivacy-firstenclavetosomeplaceelse. Newinstallationmessage GooglePhotos/iOS Alwayshavethatdatacollectionandanalysisphilosophyinmind—whichbringsmetothethirdconsideration.WhenyouuseGooglephotos,thenmanyofyourimageswillcontainhiddendata,embeddedintothefiles,thatdisclosesthetimeandexactlocationthephotowastaken,thedeviceyouwereusing,eventhecamerasettings.Googleadmitsitpullsthisso-calledEXIFdataintoitsanalyticsmachine. “WedouseEXIFlocationdatatoimproveusers’experienceintheapp,”Iwastoldbyacompanyspokesperson,“forexamplewemightuseEXIFinformationtosurfaceatripinourMemoriesfeatureorsuggestaphotobookfromarecenttrip.” Thatlastpointisadvertising,incasethat’snotobvious.Facebookhasadmittedthesametomeinthepast.EvenifyoutellyourphonenottoshareyourlocationwithFacebook,evenifyougointoyourFacebook’ssettingsanddisablelocationsharing,thenthecompanywillstill“collectandprocess”yourEXIFlocationdata. It’sremarkablysimpleifyou“followthemoney”toworkoutthetransactionalrelationshipsyou’reenteringinto,inreturnforallthe“free”servicesyouuse.Ifyou’renotpayingfortheproduct,thenyouclearlyaretheproduct.itreallyisthatsimple.Andso,whenFacebookseemstosuggestitmaychargeusersforitsappswheretheyblocktrackingontheirAppledevices,youarebeingputinyourplace. Andso,whileGooglePhotoshasmorefeaturesthanApple’salternatives,makesureyouunderstandthetrade-offs.Aboveall,though,bearinmindthatifwedon’toptforappsandplatformsthatgenuinelyputprivacyfirst,thenwesendamessagetobigtechthatwewon’treallychangeourways,thattheycanharvestatwill. Thisyearisprovingtobeapivotaloneforprivacy—I’mnotsureyourdataisanysaferoryourprivacyisanybetterprotectedingeneral,atleastnotyet,butatleastyounowhavetheinformationyouneedtomakeinformedchoices.Nowit’sovertoyou. Followmeon Twitter or LinkedIn. ZakDoffmanEditorialStandardsPrintReprints&Permissions