Kee.ps

One of the recommendations I get asked for a lot is somewhere safe online to stash and share photos. There are a lot of different options in this field – and it is worth reading the T&Cs of any service you choose if you value your privacy. As a general rule of thumb you should not expect to get treated as a *customer* if you are not *paying* for the service – and in the case of photos that could mean the service hosting your pics reserves the right to use them for their own commercial purposes. One service that flies in the face of that rule is Kee.ps a brilliantly simple, private photo-sharing site that is completely free – and unlike every other services I have checked out in this arena, they express that they will never use or sell your images without your permission. With the option to add photos and video the site should appeal to anyone who likes to keep things simple as you get an easy-to-remember email address you can share with other people so they can add content to your online album (perfect for less techie friends and relatives!). Where it gets even more powerful is if you create an event around a particular occasion (say a wedding, or festival gathering). The event gets its own email address and you can share it with everyone in your network and even print it out to stick on the walls where you’re holding a party, so that all the pictures and footage get emailed to one central bin that all attendees have access to. You can now build your own unique album out of everyone’s content, sharing it privately between just those you invite. Not only is this site free to use but there is also no limit on file-size or overall storage (although a fair-usage clause is in the terms so people don’t get too silly with the bandwidth). I spoke to the developers and they said they have no plan to change this or charge in the future, which makes it about the best deal I’ve seen in a long time (and one that the so-called internet giants should pay heed to!). iPhone and Android  apps for uploading straight from your handset round this offering off nicely.