Guide To Keeping Your Private Photos Private

If there is one thing we learned this weekend concerning Jennifer Lawrence and others, it’s that even the most seemingly safe photos are not safe at all. We happen to be amongst two eras. One where cameras are more frequent than ever, and one where privacy is disappearing rapidly. Here are some tips to keep those two things separate.

While the most obvious protection method from these faults is to not take incriminating photos of yourself to share with others. However, we’ve all been in love (or even just lust), and as a result, had our minds clouded with delusions of grandeur. So while certainly that is the best method of avoidance, we’re all entitled to our privacy, and here are some tips to keep your private photos off the internet, and into the hands of those you lust love.

Turn off Cloud Services

Perhaps the most obvious tip here is to turn off cloud services on your smart phone or tablet device. What cloud services are, are essentially servers that store your data, allowing you to obtain your data even if you don’t have access to your phone. While the intentions are genuine (great if you have your phone stolen, for example), the backlash of a hack could ruin your reputation forever. Here is how to turn off cloud services on your phone --

iOS

To turn off iCloud on an iOS device is pretty simple. Just go into Settings and look for iCloud. From there, you can turn off your Photostream, which will disable the the function that saves your images remotely. However, I imagine with this latest leak, additional encryption will be implemented to help keep your stored data safe.

Android

Android's Cloud based system works largely the same. Working through Google’s own Picasa, the cloud based system can be disable by going to your Photos app system. From there, you can go into settings, and disable the Autobackup options. Keep in mind however, you will still need to go through the photos already synced onto the system and delete them.

Dropbox

If you have Dropbox installed on your phone, you may have Dropbox backing up your images without your knowledge. Disabling this feature is easy, and can be done through the settings dialog of the app itself. Again, it’s important to know that you need to go through and delete previous entries individually.

While disabling cloud services can protect you from an attack to their services, you’re still not completely safe. It’s also important to acknowledge that your phone can get lost or stolen, putting your private images in the hands of strangers. To counteract that, let's develop a better password for your phone.

Password Protecting

While I cannot give you specific passwords to insure your safety, there are a few tips to help you better safeguard your phone. When it comes to number based passwords, its important to not choose anything chronological in design. 1234 is among the most common mobile passwords, and would make your phone very easy to crack. I suggest a random selection of numbers, such as 5834. It also goes without saying, to change and update this password often.

If you’re using a pattern based password, there are a few tips to keep yourself safe. The majority of pattern based patterns, form a continuing line without intersection. Circles, check marks and other patterns are common. So to help counteract this, have your lines and patterns cross. It helps make the passwords a bit harder to crack, and lets be honest, look cooler too. Also, pattern based passwords are almost always in a clockwise motion, so switch it up.

Remote Wipe Services

Unfortunately, there is no way that we can completely prevent others from stealing our phones and gaining access to our image libraries. However, there are ways we can do emergency deletion of specific images and folders if our phone was to get into the wrong hands. Apps like Prey for iOS and Android allow you to delete images and data from your phone at the comfort of your computer. While this would turn the entire event into a racing game, it can be yet another way to help keep your private life private.

Snapchat

There are apps designed to help protect others from exploitation, apps such as Snapchat. And while Snapchat isn’t perfect, it does apply preventive measures to help keep your private moments safe. While nothing can stop others from screen capturing the image (though you do get a notification to destroy your ego), providing viewing times for only 1 or 2 seconds can help deter such techniques.

The Golden Rule Of Nudes

Okay, so we've warmed up to this necessary but uncomfortable conversation (I feel like I'm talking about the birds and the bees over here). Let's now talk about the golden rule of sending scandalous photos on the internet. Never allow yourself to be identified. It's a little silly that I need to remind others of this, but it is a very necessary step within the realm of privacy. If you have tattoos or birthmarks, cover them up. If you have unique scars, find an angle that hides them. And under no circumstances, do you ever show your face in these photos. Keeping your face and identifiable marks out of the equation is the only way you'll be able to maintain your privacy and deniability if the photos were to leak.

Just Don’t Do It

I’m saying this as a bit of a tongue-in-cheek moment. While a random guy on the internet telling you to not probably isn’t going to deter you, I can provide another alternative to the mess. Instax. We’re among the “Polaroid resurgence” and it’s a great opportunity to share images, without having your images on the internet for the world to see. While this isn’t a perfect method, as images can be photographed digitally, or scanned in, it does help keep them off the internet on some regards.

While this weekends event has left many feel sympathetic or outraged, we must take what we've learned from this event and find preventive measure to deter the same fate happening to us. Hopefully I've provided some tips here that will keep you happily in lust love, while keeping you off the internet.