Getting rid of Google Photos
Maybe I’m naive, but my privacy isn’t my biggest concern when it comes to using Google. I know I don’t understand the topic well enough to comment on it, but I feel like there’s nothing in my photos that would interest Google.
I trust Google’s security to prevent unauthorized access to my data. Of course, I use MFA, although even that isn’t completely foolproof.
But I still want to get rid of Google Photos. Why? The cost. Currently, in our household, there are two people paying Google €9.99 per month for storage. That adds up to a total of €240 per year! At that cost, a couple of 4TB hard drives would pay for themselves in just a couple of years.
When it comes to important personal data, you always need to carefully consider continuity. What if the hard drive fails? What if the whole device gets fried by a lightning strike? What if there’s a fire? What would happen to your beloved photos then?
One commonly known backup strategy is 3-2-1: keep three copies of your data on two different devices, and one in a separate location.
I currently have three 8TB drives on my server in a RAID 5 configuration. This means that my data is distributed across the three drives so that if any one drive fails, its contents can be restored from the other two intact drives. However, if two drives fail at the same time, all data is lost.
In addition, the data is automatically copied to an external USB drive using the rsync software.
However, I don’t yet have an external copy of my data. That’s why I haven’t dared to give up Google Photos completely. For now, it serves as a third copy of my data.
But which self-hosted service could replace Google Photos? Immich could be a viable alternative https://immich.app/.
It has a clear user interface and offers a mobile app that allows automatic photo transfers to the server. Immich also includes AI functionality (which, of course, runs locally) that analyzes the people and other elements in your photos.
I have been using Immich for about a year and a half alongside Google Photos, and it has worked fairly reliably during that time. Immich is still in active development, and new updates often break the existing installation, so maintaining the service does require some work.
Security is also closely tied to continuity. I’m not claiming that Immich’s security is inadequate, but on the other hand, the project has not undergone a security audit by an independent party. I wouldn’t expose an Immich service directly to the Internet, and fortunately, the project’s documentation doesn’t recommend doing so either. This, of course, creates some challenges for using the service: it is only accessible from the home network, or access to the home network must be provided by other means. I use a VPN, which allows me to use the Immich service from outside my home as well.
Is a self-hosted solution ultimately cheaper? Probably not, especially if you factor in the cost of your own time. But for me, it’s definitely more interesting. Maybe that says something about my personality.
So I haven’t fully gotten rid of Google Photos yet, but maybe someday I will.