Google Photos Backs Up Your Photos Even After You Delete the App

Companies like Google and Facebook are infamous for collecting private user information and using it for purposes beneficial to them, and a new revelation about Google Photos will only raise further suspicions and concerns.

As Nashville Business Journal writer David A. Arnott found out, your personal photos still end up on Photos even after you’ve deleted them, or uninstalled the backup app. Several tech publications have verified the claims since and found them to be completely true.

Arnott noticed the issue when he saw hundreds of his personal photos uploaded in his Google Photos account, months after he’d uninstalled the app.

The reason behind this anomaly is that Android manages the upload of media files, by default, through Google Settings. That option also handles various other tasks, hence, even if you’ve rid your phone of the main app, the settings won’t change.

Google, for its part, maintains that the system is working as intended, with no wrongdoing whatsoever on its part.

Here’s How You Should Fix This

Thankfully, though, the fix isn’t too hard either. To turn this backup off, simply reach for the Google Settings option on your menu, select Google Photos backup and simply toggle the switch to off.

Google has since said that it is working on making the system clearer by providing straightforward solutions to issues like these.

For users like Mr. Arnott, though, these things mean more. “In my personal case, I’m uncomfortable with the idea that Google had access to pictures of my daughter,” he said, “and used that access to develop information, without my knowledge, about what she looks like and where she spends time.”