Is Online Photo Storage Safe?

The use of online photo storage has increased dramatically over the last decade. A simple and convenient way to manage photos, this type of storage solution offers the benefit of immediate retrieval from any computer connected to the Internet, as long as the user has access to the proper login credentials for the account. While for the most part online photo storage is a very safe option, there is a slight degree of risk that users should keep in mind.

From one perspective, online photo storage is a solution that helps to minimize the problems connected with other types of online storage. Saving photos to hard drives, pen drives, or CD-Rs is convenient, but there is also the risk that a catastrophic event such as a fire would destroy the devices, effectively destroying the electronic files at the same time. With online photo storage, fires or natural disasters may cause a great deal of damage to personal property, but those uploaded photos are safe from harm, and will still be in place when the account owner is able to log into the account once again.

The main danger with online photo storage is the possibility that the service provider will experience technical issues that would result in the loss of the photos stored in different user accounts. This could come about due to a number of factors, such as corruption of the server used to store the electronic data, hacking activity, or even the physical destruction of the facility housing the server. For this reason, many digital photo storage sites have some sort of redundancy strategy in place that preserves the data in another location in cyberspace, such as a second server that is attached to the network but physically located at a different facility. In the event that the primary server is compromised in some manner, the secondary or backup server activates and allows access to the photos by authorized users to continue with little to no interruption in service.

In order to manage the slight degree of risk associated with using an online photo storage service, consumers can create their own type of backup storage solution. This will often include using a pen drive or CD-R to create copies of the saved images, and placing those devices in a secure location. Since the chances of both the devices in the possession of the end user and the remote storage solution offered by the online photo storage sites failing at the same time are extremely low, the user is likely to be adequately prepared for just about any type of situation.