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Am I just being cynical when I think that all new free photo storage just means that automated image recognition software has gotten good enough that companies

Am I just being cynical when I think that all new free photo storage just means that automated image recognition software has gotten good enough that companies want to process all my images and target me better? Is this like gmail where they get to machine read all your emails or is this the type of cloud that is just storage?

mliker 12y ago
That is quite cynical. Perhaps they want to compete against Dropbox, Microsoft, and Google for users wanting storage.
- krisdol 12y ago
  It already does, it's called Cloud Drive (and Zocalo). They might still end up snagging some users with this, but that doesn't take away from the possibility that they're using the info for advertising.
3JPLW 12y ago
The terms of how they use the photos in the EULA seem rather reasonable at first glance: "We may use, access, and retain Your Files in order to provide the Service to you and enforce the terms of the Agreement, and you give us all permissions we need to do so. These permissions include, for example, the rights to copy Your Files for backup purposes, modify Your Files to enable access in different formats, use information about Your Files to organize them on your behalf, and access Your Files to provide technical support." BUT: then they tack on "Amazon respects your privacy and Your Files are subject to the Amazon.com Privacy Notice." In the Privacy Notice, they state that any information you give Amazon in any way may be used "for such purposes as responding to your requests, customizing future shopping for you, improving our stores…" Not sure how this interfaces with the Cloud EULA, but it seems to do the opposite of "respecting your privacy."
uptown 12y ago
I'd assume that's exactly what they'll do. They've already demonstrated that they have the technology: https://developer.amazon.com/public/solutions/devices/fire-phone/docs/understanding-firefly https://developer.amazon.com/public/solutions/devices/fire-p...
higherpurpose 12y ago
Interesting that you say that given the fact that CIA has just become a client of Amazon's cloud.
simonw 12y ago
A better cynical view is that this is about lockin. You're much less likely to cancel your $99/year account if you'll have to transfer terabytes of photos to a different provider. Acquiring new customers is always significantly more expensive than retaining existing customers.
- johnloeber 12y ago
  This is a very good point. The "free" storage comes at the cost of being strongly disincentivized from ever cancelling your Prime Subscription.
  - brandoncapecci 12y ago
    Why would you cancel your Prime Subscription to begin with? As someone who gets more than the price of Prime on shipping items alone, all these additional services are just bonuses to what is already an insanely cost-effective subscription.
    - systemtrigger 12y ago
      If, in some future year, you can no longer afford this luxury you might have to cancel your subscription.
    - dublinben 12y ago
      You can pay for a lot of two-day shipping with $100 a year. I don't want all these dubious "value-add" services, like Prime Instant Video, Kindle Library, Prime Music, and now this photo storage service.
      - yim 12y ago
        does this remind anyone else of cable network bundling? which is now going through a decoupling of its own.
      - d23 12y ago
        I'm pretty sure I get $100/year worth of 2 day shipping out of Prime quite easily, but I'm starting to agree on the other points. What's been bothering me is that the 2 day shipping has started to turn into 3 or 4 days, and the deliveries have started mysteriously getting statuses such as "customer refused delivery" or "unable to deliver" even when I'm home all day. This is entirely anecdotal, but I'm wondering if there isn't some sort of effect going on with drivers who have started to see more Amazon packages and interpreted as not being as serious as a delivery as other expedited shipments. Anybody else had similar experiences?
pcurve 12y ago
You're not being cynical. That's exactly what they will do and much more. I would only upload files that you don't mind sharing with your spouse, kids, and friends. And that goes for any cloud services, not just Amazon.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- vidarh 12y ago
  Not least because the pictures are available on the Fire TV, so if you plug in a Fire TV in the living room you better not have any pictures in your Amazon Cloud Drive that you don't want anyone that gets to use your Fire TV to see.
dheera 12y ago
Encrypt your images. If they don't accept the encrypted data, represent the encrypted data as RGB color values in BMP format (forget about lossless compression, it won't make sense on an encrypted data stream; use lossy compression before encrypting instead).
- chuckcode 12y ago
  This would be a great app to have
  - gerner 12y ago
    And a clever browser plugin or something to decode it seamlessesly
bengali3 12y ago
in case anyone missed it, they have this already. see firefly: http://techcrunch.com/2014/06/18/amazons-fire-phone-introduces-firefly-a-feature-that-lets-you-identify-and-buy-things-you-see-the-real-world/ http://techcrunch.com/2014/06/18/amazons-fire-phone-introduc... I believe this is the same tech in their latest version of the barcode reader in their iOS app too.

mliker 12y ago

That is quite cynical. Perhaps they want to compete against Dropbox, Microsoft, and Google for users wanting storage.

krisdol 12y ago
It already does, it's called Cloud Drive (and Zocalo). They might still end up snagging some users with this, but that doesn't take away from the possibility that they're using the info for advertising.

3JPLW 12y ago

The terms of how they use the photos in the EULA seem rather reasonable at first glance: "We may use, access, and retain Your Files in order to provide the Service to you and enforce the terms of the Agreement, and you give us all permissions we need to do so. These permissions include, for example, the rights to copy Your Files for backup purposes, modify Your Files to enable access in different formats, use information about Your Files to organize them on your behalf, and access Your Files to provide technical support." BUT: then they tack on "Amazon respects your privacy and Your Files are subject to the Amazon.com Privacy Notice." In the Privacy Notice, they state that any information you give Amazon in any way may be used "for such purposes as responding to your requests, customizing future shopping for you, improving our stores…" Not sure how this interfaces with the Cloud EULA, but it seems to do the opposite of "respecting your privacy."

uptown 12y ago

I'd assume that's exactly what they'll do. They've already demonstrated that they have the technology: https://developer.amazon.com/public/solutions/devices/fire-phone/docs/understanding-firefly https://developer.amazon.com/public/solutions/devices/fire-p...

higherpurpose 12y ago

Interesting that you say that given the fact that CIA has just become a client of Amazon's cloud.

simonw 12y ago

A better cynical view is that this is about lockin. You're much less likely to cancel your $99/year account if you'll have to transfer terabytes of photos to a different provider. Acquiring new customers is always significantly more expensive than retaining existing customers.

johnloeber 12y ago
This is a very good point. The "free" storage comes at the cost of being strongly disincentivized from ever cancelling your Prime Subscription.
- brandoncapecci 12y ago
  Why would you cancel your Prime Subscription to begin with? As someone who gets more than the price of Prime on shipping items alone, all these additional services are just bonuses to what is already an insanely cost-effective subscription.
  - systemtrigger 12y ago
    If, in some future year, you can no longer afford this luxury you might have to cancel your subscription.
  - dublinben 12y ago
    You can pay for a lot of two-day shipping with $100 a year. I don't want all these dubious "value-add" services, like Prime Instant Video, Kindle Library, Prime Music, and now this photo storage service.
    - yim 12y ago
      does this remind anyone else of cable network bundling? which is now going through a decoupling of its own.
    - d23 12y ago
      I'm pretty sure I get $100/year worth of 2 day shipping out of Prime quite easily, but I'm starting to agree on the other points. What's been bothering me is that the 2 day shipping has started to turn into 3 or 4 days, and the deliveries have started mysteriously getting statuses such as "customer refused delivery" or "unable to deliver" even when I'm home all day. This is entirely anecdotal, but I'm wondering if there isn't some sort of effect going on with drivers who have started to see more Amazon packages and interpreted as not being as serious as a delivery as other expedited shipments. Anybody else had similar experiences?

pcurve 12y ago

You're not being cynical. That's exactly what they will do and much more. I would only upload files that you don't mind sharing with your spouse, kids, and friends. And that goes for any cloud services, not just Amazon.

deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
vidarh 12y ago
Not least because the pictures are available on the Fire TV, so if you plug in a Fire TV in the living room you better not have any pictures in your Amazon Cloud Drive that you don't want anyone that gets to use your Fire TV to see.

dheera 12y ago

Encrypt your images. If they don't accept the encrypted data, represent the encrypted data as RGB color values in BMP format (forget about lossless compression, it won't make sense on an encrypted data stream; use lossy compression before encrypting instead).

chuckcode 12y ago
This would be a great app to have
- gerner 12y ago
  And a clever browser plugin or something to decode it seamlessesly

bengali3 12y ago

in case anyone missed it, they have this already. see firefly: http://techcrunch.com/2014/06/18/amazons-fire-phone-introduces-firefly-a-feature-that-lets-you-identify-and-buy-things-you-see-the-real-world/ http://techcrunch.com/2014/06/18/amazons-fire-phone-introduc... I believe this is the same tech in their latest version of the barcode reader in their iOS app too.