2d ago

Dilemma: Online vs. Offline Privacy & Security of Personal Family Photos/Videos – Balancing Risks & Protection

Dear Friends,

I just wanted to take a moment to sincerely thank you everyone for your incredibly thoughtful and detailed responses for the films in general, while I find myself in a difficult situation when it comes to safeguarding the PERSONAL FAMILY PHOTOS and VIDEOS.

On one hand, if I choose to store them online/cloud encrypted / (edit: encrypt first then upload it), I face significant privacy concerns. While they might be secure now, there’s always the potential for a very near future breaches or compromises, especially with the evolving risks associated with AI training and data misuse.

The idea of the personal moments being used in ways I can’t control or predict is deeply unsettling.

On the other hand, keeping these files offline doesn’t feel like a perfect solution either. There are still considerable risks of losing them due to physical damage, especially since I live in an area prone to earthquakes. The possibility of losing IRREPLACEABLE MEMORIES due to natural disasters or other unforeseen events is always a WORRY.

How can I effectively balance these privacy, security, and physical risks to ensure the long-term safety and integrity of the FAMILY’S PERSONAL MEMORIES?

Are there strategies or solutions that can protect them both digitally and physically, while minimizing these threats?

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17 comments

If you don’t mind having to take an extra step to access them and probably not having the convenience of online sharing, you can encrypt your photos/videos before uploading them to online cloud storage.
- Regarding the online cloud storage encryption concern, I’m still uncertain, as AI’s capacity to function beyond traditional oversight makes these risks more difficult to predict and manage
- Thank you for that, I'm afraid I have mentioned the "encrypted" word in my post :
  (ie. if I choose to store them online/cloud encrypted, I face significant privacy concerns. While they might be secure now, there’s always the potential for a very near future breaches or compromises, especially with the evolving risks associated with AI training and data misuse),
  but haven't detailed/highlighted/clear enough
  Yes "encrypt them first then upload them" is the situation I meant
  p.s edited the post now
  
  there’s always the potential for a very near future breaches or compromise
  That is a goalpost that will never stop moving. There is always a potential threat and you can never reduce your risk to zero. Right now, encrypting the data yourself before uploading it is your best option outside of encrypting AND hosting the data yourself. You’re basically anticipating that the well-known secure encryption algorithms will eventually be broken, which is not impossible no doubt, but at the moment not likely. You also have to step back and figure out your threat model, in order to come up with an adequate solution.
  
  While they might be secure now, there’s always the potential for a very near future breaches or compromises, especially with the evolving risks associated with AI training and data misuse
  You're more likely to get a malware on your device and have it steal all your photos, more than AES 256 being broken.
  I mean, encryption is not foul proof, but your device is more vulnerable than AES 256. If someone is going to steal your photos, they'll just infect your device(s) with malware, if that happens, it's irrevelent whether you used cloud or local storage, they'll get your data either way.
  
  I completely agree. The potential for breaches is always there, and the goalpost for security is constantly moving. Encrypting data before uploading is a solid strategy, and while encryption algorithms may eventually be broken, Defining the threat model is key to finding the best solution which I cannot find and answer yet

17 comments