It's very convenient to sync all your photos in the cloud, but wouldn't you like a little more privacy?

If your photos are stored in the cloud, then Apple, Google, or whoever you use has access to them. Some of these hosts scan your images, looking for CSAM or other illegal images, and those images are also subject to various warrants from law enforcement. And while preventing illegal activity is a good thing, preemptively searching the property of unsuspecting, presumably innocent people, just because you can, is akin to letting the police into your home to search for whatever they want, just in case, because, you know, think of the kids.

"The number one reason someone would want to store their photos locally instead of in the cloud is probably for security. While cloud-based platforms are pretty secure, they're not perfect. Anything stored online can be hacked," Kristen Bolig, CEO of SecurityNerd, told Lifewire via email. "But while storing photos locally offers more security, it also means there's a greater risk of losing the photos since there are no other backup servers."

Mylio Photos is a new version of Mylio’s privacy-first photo-syncing app. The idea is that you get many of the great features of cloud services—syncing, facial recognition, and so on—but without your photos ever going near the cloud. The limited free plan includes 5,000 photos synced across up to three devices, while the Premium plan costs $9.99/month or $99.99/year. Premium gets you unlimited photos on unlimited devices.