Hong Kong News

Nonpartisan, Noncommercial, unconstrained.
Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Why Google might delete your photos, videos and more

Why Google might delete your photos, videos and more

This week, Google announced the introduction of a new storage policy that allows for the deletion of old Google Drive files. 

Google, the internet search giant facing an antitrust lawsuit by the Trump administration's Justice Department, is through handing out freebies to users of its popular email and photo-storage services.

The Mountain View, Calif.-based company said this week it will begin charging for new images and videos above specified size thresholds, a change that Google said would help it keep pace with growing usage demands but one that was greeted with dismay on tech news outlets and blogs.

Those who don't keep their storage below the new size caps, don't pay or fail to keep their accounts active run the risk of having Google scrub content from products including Gmail, Google Drive and Photos -- such as Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drawings and Forms.

"For many, this will come as a disappointment," David Lieb, the product lead for Google Photos, wrote on Twitter. "We know. We wrestled with this decision for a long time, but we think it’s the right one to make."

The change will take effect after June 1, 2021.

"We will notify you multiple times before we attempt to remove any content so you have ample opportunities to take action," Google executives said. "The simplest way to keep your account active is to periodically visit Gmail, Drive or Photos on the web or mobile, while signed in and connected to the internet."

On Google's support page, the company makes clear that users can also keep data active using "an official Google app."

To manage user content, Google relies on the Inactive Account Manager, which can notify a contact if an account is inactive for between three and 18 months. The manager can be used to instruct Google to delete data after a set period has passed as well, Mashable reported Wednesday.

Google is also providing new Google Photos tools to help with reducing the size of stored data, including one that makes it easier to delete unwanted snapshots. The company is ending unlimited high-quality -- 1080p resolution -- photo and video storage. Any files added to Google Photos that exceed the service's limit of 15GB of free data require a fee.

Users can reserve 100GB of storage for $1.99/month, including data from Gmail and Google Drive. The company has features that help manage storage and provide a personal estimate for how much space users have left.

According to TechCrunch, uploads to Gmail, Photos and Google Drive total more than 4.3 million GB every day and Google says the changes are necessary to "provide everyone with a great storage experience and to keep pace with the growing demand.”

“Since so many of you rely on Google Photos as the home of your life’s memories, we believe it’s important that it’s not just a great product, but that it is able to serve you over the long haul,” Lieb explained in a tweet on Wednesday.


“To ensure this is possible not just now, but for the long term, we’ve decided to align the primary cost of providing the service (storage of your content) with the primary value users enjoy (having a universally accessible and useful record of your life)," he said.

Google, which has offered the free products in part to attract new users, is one of the world's most lucrative companies. Its revenue jumped 14% to $46 billion in the three months through September, though expenses pared operating income to $12.6 billion.

CEO Sundar Pichai, who attributed the strength in part to the company's YouTube video-streaming service, Google Cloud storage product and Google Play app store on a call with investors, said it's confident that its products benefit consumers and is happy to make its case against the Justice Department's antitrust claim.

The government complaint accused Google of locking up the "primary avenues" that internet users rely on to access search engines, in part by requiring that Google be the default engine on billions of mobile devices and computers worldwide.

The suit was filed amid growing scrutiny of Google, which has a market value of $1.2 trillion, and other Silicon Valley behemoths. Democrats have complained that the companies stifle competition, while Republicans have long accused them of suppressing conservative viewpoints, a criticism leveled often by President Trump.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Hong Kong News
0:00
0:00
Close
It's always the people with the dirty hands pointing their fingers
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
Steve Jobs' Son Launches Venture Capital Firm With $200 Million For Cancer Treatments
Google reshuffles Assistant unit, lays off some staffers, to 'supercharge' products with A.I.
End of Viagra? FDA approved a gel against erectile dysfunction
UK sanctions Russians judges over dual British national Kara-Murza's trial
US restricts visa-free travel for Hungarian passport holders because of security concerns
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Political leader from South Africa, Julius Malema, led violent racist chants at a massive rally on Saturday
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
'I am not your servant': IndiGo crew member, passenger get into row over airline meal
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Spanish Citizenship Granted to Iranian chess player who removed hijab
US Senate Republican Mitch McConnell freezes up, leaves press conference
Speaker McCarthy says the United States House of Representatives is getting ready to impeach Joe Biden.
San Francisco car crash
This camera man is a genius
3D ad in front of Burj Khalifa
Next level gaming
BMW driver…
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The politician and the journalist lost control and started fighting on live broadcast.
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
Joe Biden admitted, in his own words, that he delivered what he promised in exchange for the $10 million bribe he received from the Ukraine Oil Company.
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
40,000 child slaves in Congo are forced to work in cobalt mines so we can drive electric cars.
×