This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Why search for a doctor’s appointment when Google has access to all your calendar events. Why search for a party invite when it reads all your emails. And why search for a specific photo of you and your loved ones to create an image, when it sees all your photos.
They try very hard to sell this as something positive and not the privacy invasive nightmare it is.
Pardon me, starts?
Exactly. It's google. They're scanning EVERYTHING. Even if you don't use google, they probably know about you from OTHERS' devices who are using google.
Thanks family who insisted on digital copies.
That's a terrible article though and seems quite click-baity, it's hard to say what's going on just based on that.
It also says
We’re talking Personal Intelligence, Google’s latest AI upgrade path which lets users opt-in to connecting Google apps to Gemini.
If it's opt-in, it's fine, as long as the user knows what exactly they are opting in for.
Even when they say it's optional, it's never actually optional. They are always enabling it in the background and just preventing you from seeing that.
But even if they actually did use an opt-in system properly, they would still only do that for like 6 months, and then in the next update you'd be forced to use it. And who can stop them? There is no alternative.
If you install immich in your homelab, you can just transfer all the images off your device very easily with the immich app.
Probably the only way to keep them private from big tech. But the long term solution is to not use the official Android or Apple systems and to root your phone and install cyanogenmod or something similar without Google apps.
But that means some apps wont work at all, so thats the price to pay for that freedom.
Or you can just buy a separate camera and stop using your phone for that.
Immich is a nightmare to install.
I can give you a docker compose that will just work if you want, as long as you have a domain name and a ingress controller running. But yes, its not easy.
I've had zero problems installing it and exposing it on one of my subdomains via nginx. I thought it was one of the easiest things to install and configure. Like, no errors or unknowns when installing.
That being said, this isn't something the average user will be or even should be doing. Its a niche product for the tech literate, not an alternative for what cloud providers are offering. I'd not recommend it to anyone who can't tell the difference between "wifi" and "internet".
Voiding my privacy, stealing my IP and opening me up to liabilities....and tis all legal... fuck all of you who gargled their balls and betrayed your own interests for what amounts to digital toys.
I thought they always did this?
Decision to move to Immich on my own hardware years ago validated
I went back to Polaroid for my nudes.
I've gone even further back, having mine painted on Greek pottery
Can I see?
Just don't shake them after they come out
But I was told to "shake it off" by the writers of ancient lore...
Thanks, I hate it!
I warned most of my family and friends this was going to happen when I de-Googled and set up Immich and they all said I was paranoid.
I have Fossify Gallery as my default image viewer but I'm still using the pre-installed Google camera app. Am I affected by this scanning? I haven't gotten around to checking out other camera apps.
We’re talking Personal Intelligence, Google’s latest AI upgrade path which lets users opt-in to connecting Google apps to Gemini. Why search for a doctor’s appointment when Google has access to all your calendar events. Why search for a party invite when it reads all your emails. And why search for a specific photo of you and your loved ones to create an image, when it sees all your photos.
This is coming first to the U.S. before it rolls out everywhere else. Google assures that “bringing personal details into your images shouldn’t mean compromising on privacy, which is why our core commitments haven't changed. The Gemini app does not directly train its models on your private Google Photos library.”
But Google does say “we train on limited info, like specific prompts in Gemini and the model’s responses, to improve functionality over time.” That’s why “connecting your Google apps to Gemini remains an opt-in experience that you can adjust in your settings at any time.” It’s opt-in for a reason. Keep that in mind.
Well, I guess I'm safe for the moment.... But I also just checked and you can't prevent Google photos from accessing your files, so that's concerning....
It looks like I have Google Photos disabled in Settings. Maybe that helps.
This is why I recommend using dedicated cameras that don't connect to the web. Well, one reason, the other reason is because dedicated cameras will always outperform phone cams.
Don't store your photos on other people's computers. Store them on your computer.
Hope this helps.
and what about off site backup?
Encrypted or your own device.
This system is being built to coordinate the control of our lives...I feel like I'm watching a slow moving disaster powered by the unparalleled mental prowess of the average American.
Does it matter if you don't update? I imagine they already have it on their servers, which is where I imagine the photos are mostly processed.
Since decades, Google Photos is cloud storage. Update or no, they already got your photos for this.
I never activated cloud storage for Google Photos. Whenever I open it for some reason, it complains about it. I need something non-shittified to go through my gallery, just haven't looked for it very much yet.
Unless you deny network permission for Photos, which I highly recommend.
The more offensive part is, Google Photos is not only the default image viewer on (Google's) Android, but (Google's) Camera app will only open pictures in it too. So it's cloud crap that's also literally programmed into a lot of people's cameras.
Check out https://github.com/CaramelFur/GPhotosShim which stops GCam from using Photos. This is why my gOS uses GCam with network denied (because it works way better on Pixels than the OSS equivalent).
I was hoping I'd find something like this one day and of course I find it on Lemmy.
Thank you!
Nice. Unfortunately, it does not offer choosing Immich as an image viewer. I guess this is on Immich to fix, though.
Nice thanks. I was getting annoyed with that and have recently degoogled. The camera appnseems good for pixels though. I might switch back now.
I tried this and a recommended fork just now, but I don't think you can use it unless you fully remove the default provider first. I have a locked phone and I think that makes it impossible for me
Look at adb or LineageOS, otherwise make sure to factor it in for your next phone (second hand + a new battery replacement pack from iFixit works well these days, not as bad as you think doing it, Pixels 8 and above get 7 years of security updates).
The phone in question is the HMD Skyline, which gets a 9/10 on iFixit (and is a 0/10 on the software side, which they conveniently left out)
I'll live without it and probably trade in the repairable phone (lol) but it really is a bummer
0/10 on the software side
Sadly to be assumed these days unless proven otherwise, that or hardcore trapped in a walled garden...
What are you saying? I have a samsung and nothing is backed up to google drive. In fact i just checked after reading the article. Is there another place they backup or are you talking about the backup?
Samsung has their own proprietary Camera app, and its own proprietary Gallery app. The Google issue probably doesn't apply to you, but even though they're better than Google options, you're still locked in too.
Your mileage may vary depending on the cellphone manufacturer, but everything I've seen (Google or Samsung based) has been locked in and paired on an OS that was once beloved for having interchangeable components.
And this is why you don't opt in to backup your photos
it backups the whole phone more or less if one chooses to, if there is alternative to it, i dont have a PIXEL, im using a oneplus. to backup the whole phone and redownload everything?
See if you have a problem with this you should have had a problem with it 15 years ago this isn't activism this is ignorance poking its head out from under a rock.
People learn and change. Always better late than never.
