Are your family photos really safe online? Ask expert your questions

[EllieSmumsnet]

From first steps, to birthday parties, school plays and everyday moments, your family photos capture it all. But in today’s digital world, keeping those memories safe isn’t always as simple as it should be.

Whether you're trying to figure out how to safely share albums with family and friends, the easiest way to back up photos from your phone, thinking about the risk of platforms like Google Drive or Dropbox, or you're worried about your photos being used to train AI or fuel targeted ads, expert Nouha from Proton Drive is here to help.

You don’t need to be tech-savvy to join the conversation. Proton Drive is here to offer simple, trustworthy advice so you can feel confident your family’s most precious moments stay private and protected.

• Everyone who shares a questions on the thread below by 05/06/2025 will be entered into a prize draw
• One lucky Mumsnet user will win a £200 voucher for a store of their choice
• Our expert Nouha from Proton Drive will be back soon to answer some of your questions

About the expert
“Hi everyone, I’m Nouha — I lead Growth at Proton Drive, where we build privacy-first alternatives to Big Tech services like Google and Microsoft. Unlike those, we don’t track your family's emails, photos, or browsing habits and definitely don’t collect data on your kids as they grow up. Our mission is simple: to help people take back control of their digital lives, and over 100 million people trust us to do just that.

Technology moves fast, and it can feel like a lot to keep up with. That’s why I’m here: to help make it a little easier to understand and navigate.”

Thanks and good luck!
MNHQ
Insight Terms and Conditions apply

Can I still print photos from the drive ? and can this be done at ASDA or other supermarket - where I currently take my iphone for photo printing

Hacking is becoming more and more sophisticated, do you have a dedicated IT section to prevent hackers taking your details and photos illegally. Is there 2 factor authentication for login for the site ?

My android phone can no longer do photo backups from whatsapp because my g-drive is out of space. Is my best option to just pay for extra google storage?

Can I store videos which are long ? - I have a couple where my children have appeared in a pantomime and the school plays - is there a maximum length to save ?

If you have photos on Facebook, can Facebook legally use them for anything? I guess they can access them - even if my account is 'private'? Thanks.

No data on WhatApp is secure, especially if someone puts their mobile near yours. I know people (so-called “magicians”) who perform magic tricks by easily cloning peoples whatsapp data from their mobiles and using it to do “psychic readings”.

Is it easy to store these photo in multiple albums, and duplicate some photos so that they appear in more than one album ? I want to be able to find my photos easily and share with my children once they get older.

I shared intimate photos in the context of what I believed was a permanent loving relationship.
that relationship is now over and I have discovered my partner wasn’t who I thought he was.
i have googled extensively and can’t find any way to remove that information from both sides of the conversation, is there any way to delete them from both sides?

How can I upload from an old SD camera card I have from 10 years ago ? Is this possible ?

There are so many 'cloud' servers - what is the capacity and what happens if the capacity gets low - do you get a warning and need to delete - does your service detect and delete duplicate photos - I take sooo many and some are very similar and I could get rid of them for space. TY

What proof do we have that cloud storage is indestructable?

I use Google photos as I use android and have all the Google accounts. How safe are the images of my child on here? Also, What are the dangers of having my child's image online. Many thanks

Can I find a particular photo easily - using an AI search facility within proton drive ?

I don't think there's any place online where our photos (in general) would be safe. Even if we review the terms and policies, or limit sharing features, data breach is so common nowadays. Guess, we'll have to revert back to good ol' photo albums. Or keep it in a hard drive

All my photos of when I was little were lost in a clearing out of my parents house. You won't ever het them back.

I fully deleted my Facebook and Instagram profiles but could my photos from these accounts be stored somewhere still?

Hi there! Thanks for your question. Your iPhone can automatically create some photo albums for you in the Photos app, and with the Memories feature. Here's how it works:

1. People & Places Albums (Automatic): Your iPhone is able to identify people and places who appear often in your photos, for example your child or partner. It automatically groups photos of the same person into the People album (found under "Albums").
2. Photos taken in the same location are grouped under Places with a map view.
3. Memories (Automatic Story Albums): iPhone's 'Memories' feature automatically creates curated albums (with music and titles) based on: Events (e.g., trips, holidays), People, Locations and Dates. You can customize and save these as albums or videos.
4. Search Suggestions (Smart Grouping): When you use the Search function on your Photo app, iPhone offers smart grouping by topics like "Cats," "Beaches," or "Concerts," even if you didn’t tag them.

Hello! Thanks for your question. In general yes, saving your photos onto your device or cloud, whether its an iPhone or Android is secure. As best practice, we recommend some simple tips including: using a strong password on your device and cloud, never sharing account information, don't give access to your account or are accidentally logged in somewhere. Unfortunately, with popular photo cloud storage tools or mobile devices, hacks, scams and misuse of your photos is a risk. To ensure you and your photo memories are better protected, we recommend you try Proton Drive's. With Proton, your photos, videos and files are stored with end-to-end encryption, the most secure form of protection and privacy - meaning not even Proton can see or access your photos, and hackers can't decrypt the code. You can get started easily, backup photos quickly and can access your photos wherever you are with the Proton Drive mobile app. Try it here - its free to create an account and you get 5GB storage. https://proton.me/drive/family-photos

Hi! This is a good question. The simplest answer is to make sure your kids photos never end up in a space that can be scraped by AI companies or Big Tech. In practice, this means you should avoid posting photos of your kids to social media. However, this doesn't mean you can't share photos to keep family in faroff places in the loop — you simply should use end-to-end encrypted (E2EE) services so that your photo is never exposed to web scraping. Sending photos to loved ones using Proton Drive's secure sharing links, Proton Mail, or Signal will let you show how much your kid has grown without exposing these memories to AI.

Hi! Thanks for your question. We understand your concerns and fears, especially in such a digital world! Unlike other providers, Proton Drive cloud storage uses end-to-end encryption — an advanced security measure so private, not even Proton can access your photos — protecting your memories from being used by algorithms, advertisers, AI training and more. Using Proton Drive is easy, in just a few clicks, you can transfer and backup your photos; accessing files, photos and videos wherever you are, on desktop, such as a laptop or on mobile with our iPhone and Android apps. You can also easily download photos from Proton Drive to your device, or instead share links to photos and videos with friends and family. When you add photos or videos to Proton Drive, they're automatically grouped by date order. With our newly launched albums feature, you can now quickly organise and group photos into albums or use 'Favourites' to access your most precious memories. Albums can also be shared with friends and family and are stored end-to-end encrypted, hiding photo metadata which includes information such as where photos were taken (revealing your home address as an example). Try it here - its free to create an account and you get 5GB storage. https://proton.me/drive/family-photos

Hi! Thanks for your question! So Proton has a few different plans by number of user depending on your needs. For accounts that will require a few people accessing, for the best experience we recommend one of our multi-user accounts. This gives you access to the biggest storage space and premium features so you have no issues storing files and photos and everyone can access and add to this easily.

1. For up to 6 users, we recommend the Proton 'Family' plan - this gives you access to up to 1TB of storage which has enough space for over 200,000 photos depending on size and quality. Find out more here https://proton.me/family
2. Perhaps of better use, we recommend your school using a Proton Business account - you can select the number of users you'd need access for and get going in just a few steps. Our sales team is on hand to help your school with a more custom approach ensuring your School's needs are met. Learn more here! https://proton.me/business/drive

Thanks for your question! We understand moving storage can be daunting and a little tricky! Check out this step-by -step guide from Android that should help make this easy. https://support.google.com/android/answer/13626960?hl=en

Hi there! Thanks for your question. This depends on whether you have an iPhone or Android device.

Your iPhone can automatically create albums for you in the Photos app using facial recognition through the 'People & Places' Albums feature. Your iPhone is able to identify people and places who appear often in your photos, for example your child or partner. It automatically groups photos of the same person into the People album (found under "Albums").

Like your iPhone, Google Photos with Android devices can also automatically identify faces and pets. You can label names, merge duplicate faces, and search by name. Depending on your device, this is found under: Photos app > Search > People & Pets.

Hi, sorry to hear about your mum's passing. With Proton Drive, you can easily create albums with all your memories that are stored end-to-end encrypted, giving your photos advanced security. You can share secure links to albums or individual photos with family or friends. When sharing an album, you can select the level of access you give- with edit access, others can also add photos and videos once they've accepted your invitation. They will also need to create a Proton account. You can find out more about Proton Drive for secure photo storage here https://proton.me/drive/family-photos

Changing devices can be stressful, but fortunately, Proton Drive is the perfect tool to address the situation you described.
You can quickly and easily backup photos from your phone to Proton Drive, ensuring you never lose them even if you lose your phone. You can also organize them into albums and securely share them with anyone. And you're right to be concerned about what happens to your photos in the cloud. But Proton Drive encrypts your photos on your device before they ever reach our servers. This end-to-end encryptions means we can never see or access your photos. You remain in control. Consider it your virtual photo album , one that comes with a lock that only you have a key to. Try it here - its free to create an account and you get 5 GB storage. https://proton.me/drive/family-photos