One more factor that is quite worrisome is that even the biggest industry names are not spared from this crisis. The recent such example pertains to tech giant Google and this time around, the prime suspect is its photo and video storage platform Google Photos.
Well, the issue does not pertain directly to Photos, rather the bug in question was residing in Google Takeout. This is an application developed by Google that enables you to download backups of your data from various Google software. Two major issues were identified by the company in its app.
Firstly, your Photos backup may not be complete in all respects and missing some of the videos for that period. This apparently does not sound like much of a big deal; as you may download an additional backup subsequently. This will be possible only if you haven’t deleted your backup permanently.
Nonetheless, let’s move to the more grim side of the story. Imagine downloading your backup via Google Takeout and finding videos in your backup that have nothing to do with you. Although this would be alarming for you, but imagine the horror of the other person or persons whose videos are now in your custody.
This is the havoc that the purported “bug” unleashed on Google Photos between November 21 and 25. Google claims to have resolved the issue since then but what’s done is done. Who will take responsibility for our personal videos falling right into the lap of someone we don’t know and may not even like to know altogether?
As a remedy, Google is suggesting all Photos users who downloaded backups during the above period through Google Takeout to delete their archives. The company further asked Photos users to download a fresh and “accurate” backup of their archived videos.
Google claims that only the videos segment of its Photos platform was affected by this bug and the issue has since been resolved. The tech giant further says that it’s sorry for all that happened but the issue is so sensitive that a mere sorry doesn’t seem to cut it.
This news is yet another stark reminder for all those proponents of the cloud who express their unconditional and unequivocal support for the cloud. One can’t deny the efficiency and convenience that the cloud has brought in our lives but such incidents are surely a wakeup call that the cloud is not meant for storing everything.
