Got nervous about my Flickr account

[gwencd158]

For years I have kept my pictures on Flickr (all private) as a repository so they are not stored on my phone or any other device. Flickr has my girl email account, but I do not give them my cell number.. so password retrieval if I forgot the password is only to my girl email. Yesterday, tried to login and Flickr was asking for a secondary code emailed to my girl email. I never received the code email. I use a very complex password on the account. Thought I was locked out of my private pics forever. Tried later, and got in on just the password. I think Flickr may be upgrading to 2 factor authentication soon. Yikes, I may need to download all my pics to a secure thumb drive. I?d hate to lose 10 years of pics. Anybody else use Flickr as a private repository?

[StephanieCLT]

Yes! I do, and I had the same problem. I think it was an internal bug that seems to have been fixed.

[tifftg]

Long time Flickr user with photos since 2007. Would hate to lose that service.

[docrobbysherry]

Haven't been able to access my Flickr account for 10 years!

[Aka_Donna]

flickr is owned by smugmug which uses AWS. AWS can edit at any time. I would suggest a more private and secure place to store photos.

[countrygirl]

Google photos is what I use.

[Barbara Jo]

I have been on Flickr since 2017 and never had a problem with it

BTW, If anyone is worried about someone seeing their CD photos there , they should not be on there to begin with
Flickr is for photo sharing with others with very few few restrictions on the content . It's purpose is not for photo storage.

[Aunt Kelly]

Placing things that you would prefer to remain private on a platform that prides itself on it's utility as a tool for sharing seems... reckless. On mistaken setting, and the world can see what you very much want to keep hidden. If that privacy is such a priority, choose another medium. Yes, online storage can be managed securely, given a thorough understanding of, and attention to, the details that make it so, but why go through that if you don't have to?

[Barbara Jo]

If anyone wants very secure photo storage... put it on a thumb drive and put that in a bank safe deposit box.

Fact is there in not any real privacy on the internet.

[Patience]

I agree with Barbara.

Sorry, but it seems like one set oneself up for an unnecessary headache.

I had a small panic when I realized on my very first outing that the pictures I asked to be taken of me with my phone were uploaded to a Google docs account without my knowledge. Fortunately, they were not publised, pending approval, but that was enough for me.

My pics are stored in one of my retired, password protected personal computers.

[Michelle_G]

I use an android app on my phone and tablet called "Lock My Pix." I think I have the pro version. It hides photos in an encrypted file and secure deletes the photo from your gallery. Has a decoy vault as well if your SO is standing over you wanting to see what is in the locked pix app on your phone. The app icon can be disguised as a calculator or another system app. I am happy with it.

[Helen_Highwater]

One way to keep your pics safe is to download them as others have said to USB drives. Cheap as chips and can be easily hidden.

I would advise have duplicates just in case one drive becomes corrupted and if you want double security buy some encryption s/w and have a suitably long password to then access the drive.

Even if someone finds your drive without the decryption s/w and password they're not going to access your pics.

[kellyanne]

I used Flickr until the Yahoo merge and had the same log on blues.

Back in the day I had a Geocities web page.

I knew a girl with thousands of pix of herself online and videos and nobody ever said boo.

She noted that firstly, one has to be looking for it, second they would have to identify you of the billions out there in a look they have never seen as the opposite gender.

Years ago I received a TG personals reply from a couple the - lady of which was a coworker - but had a unique identifier - Politely declined but never mentioned it or would have to anyone.

My experience is the reveal risks are closer to him - like when friends help one move and they see items they know their wives' have like tilting make up mirrors, or a smell of lingering perfumes, pink towels etc.

or friends come over and some female article has been left out, leaving mascara / make up on.

These days of privacy , I don't think someone going up to another nonfamilial adult and discussing a third party's sexual orientation would be received well.

I think most would be offended , I worked for many big companies that it could backfire with a dismissal notice very quickly - and rightly so.

[nancy58]

On another thread, I told about the time I posted a picture on Google Photos so I could print a hardcopy for my journal. I will be much more careful if/when I do it again. Otherwise, I keep my photos in a password protected ZIP file and the computer it's on has full disk encryption. I do not use my phone to take pix of myself because I have no control over what it does with them. I am less concerned about being outed than I used to be, but if has an Internet connection, it CAN be hacked.

[Karren H]

My 20 years worth of photos are stored on an external drive and Karens personal notebook computer. I used to use Flickr and PhotoBucket but forgot both passwords and forgot my passwords to the email accounts registered to each site. Finally got one figured out and had them cancel my account but the other one is still there though I have not uploaded anything in a decade. Trying to clean up my online fem footprint. I recently started using IMGBB. Does not seem to have any strict decency rules like the others. Lol. Yet.

[Zoey0897]

I'm sort of paranoid about what my fem-self might leak onto the internet and how much I could reel in sort of speak. I have some posts on imgur and flickr but most of mine are on my laptop and external HDD. I do keep about 25 or so of my best on my phone on the off chance someone finds them at least it'll be a decent one