Want your images back? That'll be $5

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

GDPR, Privacy Laws, and Data Access

  • Multiple comments note that under GDPR you can request all data a company holds on you, typically free.
  • Cited articles: right of access (Art. 15) and data portability in machine-readable form (Art. 20).
  • Debate on scope:
    • Some say you must be “in” the EU; others argue GDPR applies to any data subject of a company doing business in the EU, regardless of citizenship/location.
    • Photos may or may not be “PII” in the US sense, but GDPR is broader and likely covers them.
  • Similar rights mentioned under California law and some US state privacy acts.
  • Several suggest trying a GDPR/state-law request as a way to get photos for free.

Chargebacks and Consumer Remedies

  • Many argue this is clear chargeback territory: service was sold with implication that photos existed when the account was empty.
  • Process advice:
    • Ask for a refund first, then file a chargeback if refused.
    • Some report chargebacks on debit cards and winning disputes; others say banks can be resistant and ToS are overvalued.
  • Merchants describe chargebacks as painful, often lost, and note additional processor fees.

Ethics, Dark Patterns, and “Corporate Greed”

  • Widely viewed as deceptive and “scummy,” especially:
    • Paywalling access to user data via a recurring subscription.
    • Only revealing a free export option at the end of the account deletion flow.
    • Implying photos exist (“relive them”) when an account is empty.
  • Some defend charging something for long-term storage and retrieval; others distinguish reasonable cost recovery from misleading upsells.

Expectations for Free Cloud Storage

  • Split views:
    • One camp: free cloud storage should be treated as ephemeral; users must keep their own backups.
    • Another: in the 2000s many reasonably believed big “professional” sites would treat uploaded data respectfully and not ransom it later.
  • Discussion that many early “free” services either shut down entirely or pivoted to extractive models once VC/ZIRP economics faded.

Alternatives and Self‑Hosting

  • Strong praise for self-hosted solutions like Immich, often layered atop boring filesystem + backups (NAS, DAS, Backblaze, etc.).
  • Trade-offs:
    • Immich is powerful but setup and multi-user workflows can be complex.
    • Self-hosting shifts costs/maintenance to the user; not “painless” for non-technical people.
  • Other options raised: Flickr, SmugMug, Nextcloud, Ente, with mixed experiences around lock-in and export.

Broader Reflections

  • Some see this as a small but telling example of predatory patterns normalized across SaaS.
  • Others caution against investing too much emotion over $5, arguing that outrage rarely reaches the responsible decision-makers.