This article covers a blockchain-based alternative to Google Photos with GDPR compliance. When it comes to online photo storage there are dozens of options you can go with. You can use a dedicated photo storage service (like Google Photos, Flickr, etc.) or you can go with cloud storage (like Dropbox, GDrive, OneDrive, etc.) and upload your photos there.
Out of all the available services, Google Photos seems like to be the new default service with over a billion users all around the globe. And, don’t get me wrong here, Google Photos totally deserves that with its features ease of use, and unlimited storage. But if you prefer privacy on top of all then Google Photos might not be the ideal service for you.
Google Photos is a centralized service where all the data is managed by Google. Now, Google does have pretty solid user privacy but there are other threads as well. Since your photos are stored on the Google server, an unfortunate data breach or hack might jeopardize your privacy. So, if you wanna look into other options, here is a service that you should try.
Arcane Photos is a blockchain-based online photo storage service. Being built upon blockchain architecture, your data is decentralized and distributed over thousands of nodes on a fully encrypted network. Due to this decentralized and encrypted nature, no one can access your data except you, not even Arcane Photos itself.
Unlike Google Photos, this service offers 10GB of storage space and lacks the smart features that you get with Google Photos. So, you have to comprise all that for complete data privacy; unless a more better service arises.
Also read: Free Blockchain-Based Secure photo Storage Services Online
Blockchain-based Alternative to Google Photos
Arcane Photos is built upon the popular blockchain platform BlockStack. It’s a blockchain-powered platform to build and publish encrypted and decentralized apps. So, to use Arcane Photos, you need a Blockstack ID. If you don’t have a Blockstack ID, you can create one here.
Upon login, you get the Arcane Photos homepage which has an empty canvas with an upload button at the top right corner. With that button, you can upload your photos to Arcane Photos. You can select multiple photos for bulk upload.
All the photos you upload get listed on the canvas. It’s a giant canvas that gets longer and longer when you add more photos to it. This is because there is no folder support yet.
From the canvas, you can tap a photo to view it. This opens a gallery-like layout where you can cycle through all your photos. At the top of each preview, you get options to download and delete the respective photo. For the time being, Arcane Photos lacks the bulk download option too.
Give this encrypted Google Photos alternative a try here.
Wrap Up
Arcane Photos is a decent alternative to Google Photos which is completely secure and complies with the GDPR data privacy standards. Currently, it does lack lots of features but it just launched a few days back. I hope it might get some essential features soon. Until then, give it a try and share your thoughts on this with us in the comments.
