A safe home
for life’s memories.

Q: How can I share my Google Photos securely?

You can either share your photos directly to other Google accounts or use a shareable link to send them more broadly to friends and family.

Q: How can I hide sensitive photos & videos?

If you have more sensitive photos and videos you can create a protected folder. Your device screen lock in the Google Photo app will protect this folder and will not show up in the Photos grid or albums.

Google Photos is the home for all your photos and videos, automatically organized and easy to share. We invest in advanced security infrastructure and easy-to-use privacy controls so you can safely store and share your memories.

Keeping your memories safe

We operate one of the most advanced security infrastructures, with everything from custom-designed data centers to transcontinental fiber-optic cables that are continuously monitored to help keep your memories safe.

Secure storage

Google services are continuously protected by the world’s most advanced security infrastructure. This built-in security detects and helps prevent online threats, so you can be confident your personal information is secure.

Encryption

Encryption keeps data private and secure while in transit. When you store your photos, the data you create moves between your device, Google services, and our data centers. We protect this data with multiple layers of security, including leading encryption technology like HTTPS and encryption at rest. Learn more.

Treating data responsibly

People interact with their photos across different apps and devices. As we work to make it easier for you to do more with the photos you take, these moments of convenience should extend beyond the Google Photos app and web experience in a responsible way.

Face grouping

Face grouping automatically groups similar faces and sorts them for you making it easy to search and manage your photos. Face groups and labels are only visible to you. You control whether face grouping is on or off, and if you turn it off, face groups will be deleted from your account. We do not make general purpose facial recognition technology commercially available. Learn more.

Partner Program

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Putting you in control

Data makes Google Photos more helpful and relevant, but we want to help put you in control of your experience. We've built easy-to use-tools into our product that put you in control and let you choose the settings that are right for you.

Selective backup

You can choose to back up your photos and videos to Google Photos or selectively back up only the photos you want stored to your Google account. Learn more.

Memories

Map View

View your photos by location on an interactive map that only you can see. This map view is populated using location data saved in your Google Account. You can edit and remove the location info used to populate the map on photos.google.com. If you don't want to see your future photos organized on this map view, you can turn off Location History and location data in your camera app. Learn More.

Google Assistant

Ask Google Assistant to help you find, view, or share photos. In your Assistant settings, you can choose what you want to display and share from your Assistant devices, like the Google Nest Hub or any Android phone. To curate and control the photos that appear on specific Smart Displays or cast-connected devices, you can use the individual device settings in your Home app.

Google Lens

Get information about your photos and surroundings by searching with Google Lens. Your search activity is only stored to your account if Web & App Activity is turned on and your actual photos will not be stored in Web & App Activity. Go to your Google Account to choose the settings that are right for you. Learn more.

Secure sharing

Whether it’s a single photo or an entire album, you control who you share your memories with. Easy and secure controls allow you to share your content with specific people or you can use a shareable link to share it more broadly.

Album sharing

When you share an album, the default option will be to share with a specific person or people via their Google Account. This gives you more control over who is added to the album. You still have the option to share via a link, which makes it easy to share photos with people who don't use Google Photos or have a Google Account. You can update the sharing settings of your albums at any time and control who has access to each album. Learn more.

Direct sharing

Sharing activity

Learn more about the questions people are asking about Google photo privacy

Are Google photos safe and private?

Google Photos keeps your private photos & videos safe. Encryption keeps data private and secure while in transit. When you store your photos, the data you create moves between your device, Google services, and our data centers. We protect this data with multiple layers of security, including leading encryption technology like HTTPS and encryption at rest.

A safe home for life’s memories.