[dinohenry483]

I have a flash drive but I want to move away from that because there's a real privacy risk there.

I've experimented with Photobucket and Google Drive/Photos. Photobucket has ads, slow load times, and a confusing privacy policy. Google is pretty efficient, but it seems like there are very few options to organize your photos, which is frustrating.

Also, I don't want to clown around with confusing privacy settings. Seems simple, but I'm having trouble cutting through all the noise, so I wanted to see what others have to say. Any suggestions?

[Dave2213]

I've got the same problem.  Externally hosted storage just doesn't appeal for a variety of reasons so I've settled for storing everything on my PC and backed up frequently on external (portable) hard drives - both of which are very solidly encrypted and locked up with a fairly complex password. Not as simple as a cloud type solution, but much more secure in that there is little chance of the files being accessed by anyone except me.

The externally hosted solutions are nothing more than using someone else's computer, and even if you encrypt your files before uploading them there is always a risk when you rely on someone else.

[FightingJess]

I've got the same problem.  Externally hosted storage just doesn't appeal for a variety of reasons so I've settled for storing everything on my PC and backed up frequently on external (portable) hard drives - both of which are very solidly encrypted and locked up with a fairly complex password. Not as simple as a cloud type solution, but much more secure in that there is little chance of the files being accessed by anyone except me.

The externally hosted solutions are nothing more than using someone else's computer, and even if you encrypt your files before uploading them there is always a risk when you rely on someone else.

It's a shame we all have our collections we can't share easily....

[Elise]

What is the security riskw ith a flash drive?

[dinohenry483]

I've got the same problem.  Externally hosted storage just doesn't appeal for a variety of reasons so I've settled for storing everything on my PC and backed up frequently on external (portable) hard drives - both of which are very solidly encrypted and locked up with a fairly complex password. Not as simple as a cloud type solution, but much more secure in that there is little chance of the files being accessed by anyone except me.

The externally hosted solutions are nothing more than using someone else's computer, and even if you encrypt your files before uploading them there is always a risk when you rely on someone else.

What do you mean "using someone else's computer"?

Also, I dislike having a flash drive period. To me, just having a hard drive evokes suspicion unless you have a ready-made reason for having it, which I don't.

I just don't understand. All I want is a storing service with some reasonably good file organizing features and privacy. Seems like such a hassle.

[dinohenry483]

With Google Photos, I uploaded a particular group of files but forgot to create a separate folder for them. I figured I could simply go back and select the files based on "upload date" or something like that. Seems simple, but as far as I can tell (and I've looked fairly hard), you can't do this simple procedure on Google Photos. It has shit to identify human faces in photos and can organize the photos this way, but somehow, they don't have something as simple as organizing by "upload date". Wow.

Photobucket and Flikr turned me off almost instantly. Ads, slow load times. And It bothers me how all these services err on the side of "SHARE EVERYTHING BY DEFAULT AUTOMATICALLY" instead of simply having private settings that you can turn off later.

[Billyboi]

USB External HD.  They are fairly cheap.  Plug it in, windows assigns it a drive letter.  Do your thing.  Once unplugged not even the drive letter shows up on your PC until you plug it in again.  Can't get much more secure than that.  Of course you'll have to find a place to 'stash' it if you have prying eyes around.

[wasteland1952]

I've used thumb drives for quite a while and never experienced any problems.  I keep them in a fairly secure place, so there shouldn't be a problem with security.

I don't trust storing them on an internet site.  Too many good hackers out there that can get into anything they want.  But I'm not a computer geek, so maybe I'm just being paranoid.

[Elise]

I've used thumb drives for quite a while and never experienced any problems.  I keep them in a fairly secure place, so there shouldn't be a problem with security.

I don't trust storing them on an internet site.  Too many good hackers out there that can get into anything they want.  But I'm not a computer geek, so maybe I'm just being paranoid.

Thumb drive is the way to go.  If security is an issue keep the damn thing in your pocket or a safe deposit box or something.

[Commentator Bob]

Thumb Drives are the best devises - inexpensive, easy to back up, very small and easy to keep hidden from prying eyes!

[dinohenry483]

Wow, I'm very surprised to hear how all of you have no doubts about the privacy aspect of a USB drive. To me, it just seems like all it would take is one random event for someone to stumble upon it. That bugs me out.

I don't get the whole "hacker" thing for storage sites. Even if a hacker got to your stash, are they really going to somehow expose what they found to anyone you actually know?

Looks like there's a wide range of views on this issue, haha.