# Flickr deletes 5 years worth of photos from member's account



## koala (Mar 27, 2005)

This article might be of interest to any photographers with large collections of images stored online.

From Flickr - Geek.com


> *Flickr can’t retrieve user’s 4,000 photos it deleted accidentally*
> 
> With the ongoing move to store everything digitally and in the cloud, backing up data becomes ever more important. That’s why services like Backupify have appeared.
> 
> ...


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## zuluclayman (Dec 16, 2005)

ouch!!!

It could be disastrous if this were a business relying on these linked images for custom and devastating if they were personal shots.

Call me old fashioned but I like a hard backup (or two) of my own doing stored in touchable, reachable spaces. 

I have images on Photobucket but I have them all on my computer's HD plus 2 backup sets on separate external HD's - if Photobucket failed it would only be a pest for forum viewers as the links would be broken in some posts - I would be annoyed but not devastated.


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## yustr (Sep 27, 2004)

Agreed. With physical memory so cheap - why take a chance that some kid at some site will hit the wrong key.

Still, there's no excuse for flicker to not backup thier system daily. Actually, I'm sure they do but that moron doesn't want to go through the trouble to find it. I'd keep pushing the issue. HERE'S where I'd start.


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## Done_Fishin (Oct 10, 2006)

No way I would ever tryst my data to any one site, regardless of type or length .. we all know how finicky the web is, how easy it is for drives to go down, how some server crashes require a complete rebuild .. 

It's bad enough trying to keep my data backed up at home without confusion or missing any files .. think now what it must be like for a server that is catering for customers world-wide .. I can't even begin to imagine what Google Maps requires for storage facilities, The US Gov't, IRS and other services must also be in the market for "farm sized" storage facilities .. probably better getting a back up fro them rather than a private company .. after all the tax payer foots the bill and the possibilities of data loss are very small I would think .. for obvious reasons


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## sobeit (Nov 11, 2007)

maybe I dont know much about professional online storage but isnt it still stored on a harddrive and shouldn't recovery or undelete software still find it????


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## Done_Fishin (Oct 10, 2006)

with the amount of data being added by the minute and the way it's stored, it would be virtually impossible to find any trace of it unless it was on a routine back up .. which it appears that they do't do ..

my daughter had similar problems with her domain when it crashed, where she had her customers web sites, except that it was restored to a couple of months in arrears .. because, she says, it's difficult to keep back ups of her work (she writes her sites with Joomla) she had no backups, had to rewrite everything to get it up to date.


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## Mack (Nov 8, 2004)

I read recently that there are 5000 images uploaded to flickr per minute. 

From yahoo's terms of service


> 13. TERMINATION
> 
> You agree that Yahoo! in its sole discretion, may terminate your password, account (or any part thereof) or use of the Services, and remove and discard any Content within the Services, for any reason, including, without limitation, for lack of use or if Yahoo! believes that you have violated or acted inconsistently with the letter or spirit of the TOS. Yahoo! may also in its sole discretion and at any time discontinue providing the Services, or any part thereof, with or without notice. You agree that any termination of your access to the Services under any provision of this TOS may be effected without prior notice, and acknowledge and agree that Yahoo! may immediately deactivate or delete your account and all related information and files in your account and/or bar any further access to such files or the Services. Further, you agree that Yahoo! shall not be liable to you or any third-party for any termination of your access to the Services.


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## sobeit (Nov 11, 2007)

Mack said:


> I read recently that there are 5000 images uploaded to flickr per minute.
> 
> From yahoo's terms of service


 It is one thing to terminate for cause but it is another when it is by accident.


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## Mack (Nov 8, 2004)

Agreed

The next bit covers accidental



> 17. DISCLAIMERS
> 
> YOU EXPRESSLY ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT:
> 
> ...


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## sobeit (Nov 11, 2007)

read the last line, it does basically say a claim can be made and you know how lawyers are. This could be a test case if it goes much further since so many users are relying on online storage sources more and more these days.


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## Mack (Nov 8, 2004)

Yes, im interested to see if anything comes of it. Flickr does represent its self as a storage facility and after all this guy was a paying customer.


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## sobeit (Nov 11, 2007)

looks like they are slowly recovering the pictures in the account


> Well, it turns out that Flickr can do something more, because Wilhelm's Flickr account isn't empty anymore. It's not clear how fully restored it is thus far--there are certainly hundreds, organized in sets, collections, and groups, and including comments and favorites. But it is clear that the Yahoo photo-sharing site is making some progress in building in a less draconian method of deleting accounts.
> 
> Read more: Flickr wipes out wrong account--but now reconstitutes it | Deep Tech - CNET News


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## Unending (Feb 14, 2011)

This is terrible. I do believe the pictures can be undeleted since they were stored in some machine. 
But what the heck, no bakcup? 
I believe it is safer to store your photos in your own HD, they are quite cheap these days.

Also a good thing they are recovering some pictures, but still that was a terrible mistake and reeks of unprofessionalism.


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## dm01 (Oct 10, 2006)

This is why all of my pictures are on three hard drives: my main drive and two external backups. After that, I'll consider uploading them to a remote server.

Google builds all of is own servers, and they are the #3 server builder in the world. That should tell you something about how much space all of that requires.


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## royst206 (Feb 15, 2011)

That's a bummer....I stopped upgrading my pro account about a year ago. I mean, I love flickr for their high quality images, but for the most part, I don't find them too appealing anymore, meh.


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## mcorton (Apr 16, 2009)

I've been on flickr for years. I have been hacked twice but they've never lost my photos. I need to renew my pro account. I have almost 5,000 photos I need to download and back up off their servers. I especially like the groups.


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