“Remember when Tim Cook talked about Apple’s commitment to privacy? He noted that if a product is free then the user is the product. And that’s really the case here with Google’s Photos for iOS,” Jim Lynch reports for CIO. “Yes, the user doesn’t have to pay anything to use it but Google will certainly use the information in Photos to profile the user and then target ads toward him or her.”

“Some folks will probably be fine with that, and will happily use Google’s Photos app for iOS. But it’s not really something that appeals to me, particularly when it comes to photos and videos,” Lynch reports. “Privacy for those two things are very important to me, and I have no desire to have that private information used to develop an advertising profile so Google can line its pockets with more money.”

“Another problem with Google’s Photos for iOS is that it compresses your images if they are more than 16 megapixels and your video if it is greater than 1080p. It also doesn’t save the original versions of your images. iCloud Photo Library, on the other hand, retains the original image and lets you save images that are up to 16 gigabytes [Emphasis added – MDN Ed.],” Lynch reports. “One possibly good thing about the free cloud storage that comes with Google’s Photos for iOS app is that it may force Apple’s hand in terms of lowering pricing for iCloud storage. If Google’s Photos for iOS app attracts enough users away from iCloud, then Apple may rethink how much it charges for iCloud photo storage.”

Read more in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: Regardless of the privacy implications, far too many people have shown a shocking willingness to trade away their privacy for “free” (or for specious promises of “safety,” for that matter), so Apple will lose users unless they do something significant (feature additions, pricing changes) to Photos/iCloud Photo Library. Google Photo’s abilities to automatically combine photos into short animations, create collages that make sense, join them into panoramas, and merge group shots put Apple’s photo efforts so far to shame.

SEE ALSO:

Why Apple’s Photos beats Google Photos, despite price and shortcomings – May 30, 2015
Is Apple is losing the photo wars? – May 29, 2015
How Google aims to delve deeper into users’ lives – May 29, 2015
Apple CEO Cook: Unlike some other companies, Apple won’t invade your right to privacy – March 2, 2015
Survey: People trust U.S. NSA more than Google – October 29, 2014
Apple CEO Tim Cook ups privacy to new level, takes direct swipe at Google – September 18, 2014
Apple will no longer unlock most iPhones, iPads for government, police – even with search warrants – September 18, 2014
U.S. NSA watching, tracking phone users with Google Maps – January 28, 2014
U.S. NSA secretly infiltrated Yahoo, Google data centers worldwide, Snowden documents say – October 30, 2013
Google has already inserted some U.S. NSA code into Android – July 10, 2013
Court rules NSA doesn’t have to reveal its semi-secret relationship with Google – May 22, 2013
Edward Snowden’s privacy tips: ‘Get rid of Dropbox,” avoid Facebook and Google – October 13, 2014