Google+ Photos limits?

Asked by Amaroaverno (17

) August 31st, 2013

Hello

So I recently discovered Google’s Social Network platform called Google+(plus), which apparently offers unlimited number of photo space as long as the said photos are under 2.048×2.048 Pixel (If the photos are larger than that, it either resize them or count them on a 15 GB free quota), and as long they don’t contain any material that isn’t allowed by Google’s terms (nudity/porn/violence/etc).

Fine then.

My question is, since Google+ its so nice to give me this virtual “unlimited” space, will it have any problems if I upload my pictures library, which weights around 3 TB, and keep it for a private use ? (just to access my photos from any computer).

I just want to clarify one thing, I don’t intend to use it as a backup service since I’ll always have my copy in my external drives.

I have read:
http://www.google.com/intl/it-IT/+/policy/content.htm
And
http://www.google.com/policies/terms/
And
http://www.google.com/intl/it-IT/+/policy/pagesterm.html
(Some pages are in Italian but I guess you can easily find the English versions)

And apparently it says in the “Suspension and Termination” paragraph that “Google may, without notice, remove your Google+ Pages if they are dormant for more than nine months”, and I was wondering does it apply to images as well?

Also, I would like to “take advantage” to Picasa (Google’s picture manager), auto-sync feature to dynamically upload screenshots images of my computer’s screen taken regularly every 60 seconds by another program, this to create a sort of “Picture diary”, of my computer activities (which includes chats, gaming, Internet browsing, but also working, online payments and other stuff), which will be also kept private.
Does such amount of images uploaded may count as spam? with this system I may upload 1000+ images each day which weights around 250 KB each.

Any reference to actual Google’s ToS or other users’s experience will be much appreciated.

Observing members: 0

Composing members: 0

4 Answers

Google has a cloud storage system called Google Drive. I have my mobile set to automatically upload all of my photos to this service using “auto backup”. It’s a very useful service, and I don’t see why you shouldn’t be able to take advantage of it.

I’ve never used Picasa, but if it’s a hosting and sharing service like Flickr, there might be copyright issues if you’re sharing screenshots that contain other people’s work.

Seek (34805

)“Great Answer” (0

) Flag as…

Yes you can privatize it. When upload completes, de-select sharing with any circles and make sure it’s private.

pleiades (6617

)“Great Answer” (0

) Flag as…

I can’t say for sure but you are probably going to flagged by the system for abuse. Especially with the screenshot thing.

Keep this in mind. All the google shit is tied together now. Abuse youtube (or anything, even adwords) and you lose your gmail account too and all other google services tied to that account.

Don’t assume the TOS is static. It could change tomorrow and it is all gone.

johnpowell (17881

)“Great Answer” (1

) Flag as…

You’re going to put records of your online bill payments?

I would never ever consider putting ANY part of my financial transactions in cloud storage no matter how private they claim it to be.

Also, heed John Powell’s warning. All those zillions of screenshots and the space they use are bound to catch the attention of someone and it won’t be favorable attention.

Just remember, its their site and they can do as they please regardless of what the TOS reads. You won’t have a leg to stand on if they get sick and tired of you hogging that much space on their servers.

A good analogy might be the fact that while it is not illegal to count cards when playing at a casino, they will still refuse to let you play there if they detect that pattern in your play. It’s their place and their prerogative.

Same thing with Google. If what you’re planning to do way exceeds common sense (and it does ) it will come back to bite you in the butt sooner or later.

Buttonstc (27605

)“Great Answer” (1

) Flag as…