True Photos and Videos Backup using Google Photos - Free and Unlimited

Good tip, I've been using google photos and have been recommending it as well for other users...

For context, please note that by simply using Google for photo storage, you are granting rights to Google to use your photos in essentially any way they wish.

They may, "and those they work with", at their sole discretion, and without informing you, use your uploaded content for marketing purposes without any compensation to you.

https://www.google.com/policies/terms/

a) Totally Free.

Not really. IMO.

Realistically, it comes down to trust. Do you trust Google?

If you were already using the backup service in Google+ for photos on Android, then Photos is nothing new. If you’re happy to use Google Maps, Gmail, Google Now, and all the other services that Google offers for free, then you’re already putting your trust in the company. It is already collecting data about you and using it in ways that you may not understand. It’s worth doing Google’s Privacy Checkup to find out more.

You could argue that it doesn’t matter anyway, because everyone else is doing the same thing, and that’s hard to disagree with. If you browse online without protection, then you are being tracked. If you communicate online without encryption, then your messages aren’t really private. If you use Facebook and Twitter, you are giving away lots of information about yourself and you don’t know for sure how it will be used.

At the end of the day, many of us will see the convenience and quality of a service like Google Photos as a fair trade-off for giving up tighter control over our privacy.

Sorry... there is a huge difference between "collecting data", "being tracked" and using your photos to promote or make better their services.

To suggest otherwise is irresponsible.

My observation is for context only. Your post implies (you called it "your best bet") that using Google is a slam dunk and what everyone should do without a second thought.

If possibly surrendering your rights to your photos does not cause you concern, Google can be a wise choice for photo storage.

The other thing to weigh is the risk of loosing all your photos, vs. a reliable solid backup.

Maybe Apple needs to solidify iCoud Photos Albums, because as it stands for now, it's a very unreliable and costly implementation. I see every day numerous posts of people heart broken when all their photos are deleted with no way to recover. Usually but not always due to following software updates or purchasing/adding a new device.

I see every day numerous posts of people heart broken when all their photos are deleted with no way to recover.

Not due in any way with implementation. A lack of knowledge. Jumping to incorrect conclusions.

Assumptions made in error. A symptom of today's TL;DR mindset.

Photos removed by the end user. Not once, but twice, in the search for extra device space.

Although there may be 100s of users in this situation that you read about here... there are tens of millions who seem to get it right.

The other thing to weigh is the risk of loosing all your photos, vs. a reliable solid backup

Absolutely. But there are online back up services without these conditions too. Perhaps you should include those in your User Tip for the sake of comprehensiveness.

Shouldn't "a true black" be "a true backup"?

Nice catch, thank you for pointing that out, corrected.

I'm better at IT than literature