Protecting my iphone photos

August 13, 2012 10:40 AM

How can I protect my iPhone photos from being downloaded via USB?

I have the phone password protected, so I'm not so worried about that part. But I am worried about my phone being lost/stolen and the fact that anyone can then plug it into their computer and download the photos.

Is there any way to protect against that? I've seen photo encryption apps out there, but I'm just looking for the simplest solution that requires the least amount of user intervention.

Thanks much!

posted by eas98 to computers & internet (5 answers total)

The best solution is to remote wipe your phone as soon as you realize it is gone. I believe this can be done through Apple's free "Find My iPhone" app.
posted by DWRoelands at 10:50 AM on August 13, 2012

Sync your photos to an online service, after which they are deleted from the phone. You can then show people pix from the service, if that's why you keep them on the phone, and you can lose your phone without worry that the pix will get into the wrong hands.
posted by rhizome at 10:57 AM on August 13, 2012 [1 favorite]

I use Ubuntu One to immediately and automatically upload my photos from my Android to a secure location. Then I can delete them from the phone. I assume Apple provides a similar service with iCloud.
posted by COD at 11:43 AM on August 13, 2012

Yeah, using photo stream you could do this. Basically by immediately deleting the, from your albu, but allowing the, to sync to photo stream, I don't THINK they'll be easily transferable from USB.

I'd recommend using the Dropbox app, though. As soon as you launch it now it offers to sync all the photos from your album. You can do this periodically and delete locally stored photos on your phone.
posted by Patbon at 12:15 PM on August 13, 2012

Thanks for the answers all. I think I'll just go with some kind of secure photo folder app, and then move my photos to-from there as needed.
posted by eas98 at 8:40 AM on August 14, 2012