Cloud companies may lease your images for AI learning; what can you do about it?: Digital Photography Review

Photobucket’s recent reveal that its 13 billion images may soon be licensed to teach AI models raises questions about copyright and how to protect your images.

Cloud storage is a useful tool that allows us to back up our images and share them with others quickly. It’s not perfect, though. Constant monthly payments and the possibility of data loss or leaks turn many people away. Now, with the rise of cloud-based companies potentially using your data for AI machine learning, it begs the question: what can we do to keep our files safe and, most importantly, under our own control and private?

We learned recently that Photobucket, one of the internet’s oldest photo and video storage sites, was in talks to license user data to companies wanting to use it to train AI models. In an interview with Reuters, the company’s CEO, Ted Leonard, said, “We need to pay our bills, and this could give us the ability to continue to support free accounts.” This means granting third-party access to the 13 billion images and videos uploaded to the platform.

Changes to T&Cs

It’s possible for Photobucket to do this thanks to an update in its terms and conditions, which gives the company carte blanche to analyze and incorporate data from user images. The privacy policy states, “We, and those third parties we may contract with, may also use your images in a general and anonymous way for training artificial intelligence (“AI”) algorithms and/or machine learning models and subsequent commercial uses derived therefrom.”

Cloud companies having the ability to scan user images is nothing new. Popular services such as Dropbox, Google Drive and Adobe Cloud can all scan images, as can many others. Google and Adobe have both been accused of accessing user data to train AI, though both companies deny doing so.

“It’s possible for Photobucket to do this thanks to an update in its terms and conditions.”

Personally, I’m not comfortable with anyone other than myself and those I authorize accessing my images. That’s even more true now when there’s no clarity on how severely AI technology will impact those working in the photo industry.

Some may suggest reverting to backing up images locally to a hard drive. For many, including myself, this isn’t a realistic option. As someone who travels a lot, I find storing my files in the cloud much easier than carrying multiple hard drives whenever I’m on the move.

Finding privacy in the cloud

Thankfully, there are alternatives to the status quo and several cloud services that emphasize keeping user data private, away from the eyes of company employees and third parties. Of course, every service can update its T&Cs, but it would be bad business for those who have marketed themselves as taking user privacy seriously.

Over five years, I’ve tested and reviewed dozens of cloud storage services. The first question I ask when looking at a service is: does it offer zero-knowledge encryption? This type of encryption gives the user a unique key, which even the software developer can not access, and by extension, means they can’t grant third-party companies access to your files. This means only the user, or those they share their encryption key with, can access their data.

“The first question I ask when looking at a service is: does it offer zero-knowledge encryption?”

When considering platforms that offer zero-knowledge encryption, it can be difficult to know where’s best to back up your files. Having tried the good and the bad, there are some services I feel confident recommending to others.

The two I’m currently using are pCloud and Sync.com, as I find them the easiest to use, and the pricing, overall, is affordable. They’re both available on desktop and mobile and offer useful features for photographers and videographers, which I’ll break down in more detail.

pCloud

pCloud was one of the first services I used. It has fast sync speeds and no file size limits, making it ideal for those working with large files. It also has a built-in native media player to view high-resolution images and videos.

pCloud has fast sync speeds and no file size limits, but charges extra for zero-knowledge encryption.

Unfortunately, pCloud charges extra for zero-knowledge encryption, so you’ll pay $4.99 more on top of your standard monthly fee, which is between $4-$8 per month on selected plans. Personal plans max out at 2TB of storage space, which some users may find limiting.

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Sync.com

With Sync.com, users don’t need to pay extra for zero-knowledge encryption, as it’s incorporated into all plans, including the free plan. Personal plans also offer up to 6TB of storage space and unlimited monthly data transfers.

Sync.com includes zero-knowledge encryption by default, but sync speeds can be slow.

One limitation: sync speeds are not the quickest, with uploads and download speeds being considerably slower than other options. Also, moving files around can feel cumbersome, with the drag-and-drop function not being the smoothest.

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Other zero-knowledge cloud alternatives

If you find these services’ storage space too limited, Mega is a good alternative. Personal plans reach up to 16TB of storage space, and zero-knowledge encryption is included at no extra cost, although monthly plans are costly. Personal plans can cost up to $32 per month, though you can reduce this to $26 if you pay annually.

IDrive is a good option for those not ready to go all-in with cloud storage, as it offers both local and cloud-based backup for your data. You can clone your entire disk (including operating system and applications) and IDrive will mail out a copy in the event of a complete machine malfunction. The cloud aspect works like any other service, allowing you to upload, download and share your files with others, and they’re all protected with zero-knowledge encryption.

The wrap

In closing, my intention here is not to fearmonger. The reality is more brands are using AI imagery. More apps are being made to generate AI imagery, and cloud companies are gaining the power to use our (real) photographs to help it all happen while making more money.

I want no part of that. It’s more important than ever to have complete control over our photographs and to ensure cloud companies don’t maximize their bottom line at the expense of our privacy. To not be complicit in this, we must seek out alternative services to store our images. Not only to ensure our privacy but also to ensure we help protect the future of our industry.