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Yahoo accidentally deletes Flickr account with 4,000 pictures

Discussion in 'TechSpot News and Comments' started by Emil, Feb 2, 2011.

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  1. Emil Newcomer, in training Posts: 154

    Update: After the story received plenty of coverage around the Web, and in a fortunate turnaround for German photographer Mirco Wilhelm, Flickr has managed to restore his account. The original story is below.

    Read the whole story
    Emil, Feb 2, 2011
    #1

  2. TomSEA TechSpot Chancellor Posts: 1,968   +137

    Holy smokes - LAWSUIT PENDING.
    TomSEA, Feb 2, 2011
    #2

  3. Squuiid Newcomer, in training Posts: 16

    Yet another Yawho? fa1l.
    Squuiid, Feb 2, 2011
    #3

  4. Benny26 TechSpot Paladin Posts: 1,515   +36

    And the "Most unlucky man of the week award" goes to.....Mirco Wilhelm!

    Poor bugger.
    Benny26, Feb 2, 2011
    #4

  5. Mizzou TechSpot Enthusiast Posts: 930

    Assume this means that Yahoo never runs backups, cloud computing at it's finest.
    Mizzou, Feb 2, 2011
    #5

  6. gwailo247 TechSpot Chancellor Posts: 2,105   +18

    "Is there anything else I can do?"

    Yes, here is a DVD with all my pictures on it, and now you can recreate all the tags, links, and other information. You have a week. Cheers!
    gwailo247, Feb 2, 2011
    #6
     

  7. princeton TechSpot Addict Posts: 1,715

    Seriously. If I'm paying for a PRO account I expect PRO safety measures. This would include your service BACKING UP MY STUFF.
    princeton, Feb 2, 2011
    #7

  8. Per Hansson TS Server Guru Posts: 1,796   +66

    Usually when working with databases this is not so easy to implement.
    I mean sure you have backups, but restoring only one specific users data into several tables can be a difficult process...

    Even more so if you have links to these files with unique database ID's
    If you want them to match aswell you have yourself a little nightmare :(

    Hence why you do not actually delete anything unless you are really sure of what you are doing, you simply deactivate or hide the information first instead...
    Per Hansson, Feb 2, 2011
    #8

  9. Mushroom Newcomer, in training Posts: 32

    you would have to establish his pictures were worth anything. Just like if you develop film at walmart or something, if they destroy your film they're only liable for the film and not the actual worth of your pictures.
    Mushroom, Feb 2, 2011
    #9

  10. Vrmithrax TechSpot Paladin Posts: 1,073   +84

    I'm sure Yahoo covers it's corporate behind with some kind of protective clause buried deep in the EULA when first activating the account... Still, the tinfoil hat anti-cloud crowds are going to have an absolute field day with this story...
    Vrmithrax, Feb 2, 2011
    #10

  11. Leeky TechSpot Moderator Posts: 4,344   +59

    Whether it covers itself behind a clause or not makes no odds, the person uploading these pictures should have originals, and backups.

    It still makes for a massive inconvenience, but there is no substitute for having backups.
    Leeky, Feb 2, 2011
    #11

  12. Scshadow TechSpot Enthusiast Posts: 257   +15

    Looks like this guys been upped to 25 years free service now... not that it does anything to make up for it. Not that Yahoo will even be guaranteed to be around that long. This guy should sue. He has all his pictures backed up according to his blog, so he should sue for the time it takes to reupload and relink all his photos at his hourly rate.
    Scshadow, Feb 2, 2011
    #12

  13. IAMTHESTIG TechSpot Enthusiast Posts: 251   +7

    Uhhh... really? An operation as big as flickr doesn't have a backup strategy? This doesn't add up... sounds fishy.
    IAMTHESTIG, Feb 2, 2011
    #13

  14. matrix86 TechSpot Enthusiast Posts: 761

    Yeah, like that'll happen. He can most likely sue for any business lost during this time, but the chances of winning based on "it took me this many hours to re-upload" are very slim.
    matrix86, Feb 2, 2011
    #14

  15. captaincranky TechSpot Addict Posts: 8,778   +278

    It would seem not. In a 'round about way, it makes sense that they don't, since "Flickr", is supposed to BE the "backup strategy".
    captaincranky, Feb 2, 2011
    #15

  16. Guest

    everybody wants to sue. how about taking responsibility for your actions. he should have had his own backups. yahoo never said it would protect his work 100%, that was only assumed. the person who had the example of the film at walmart is correct. if they lose your film, all you get is free film. NOT the worth of the film, or the time it took to take the pictures.
    Guest, Feb 2, 2011
    #16

  17. captaincranky TechSpot Addict Posts: 8,778   +278

    Not true, I don't want to sue Yahoo, or upload my pictures to Flickr. This is why, (IMHO), on the eight day, God created 1 terrabyte hard drives.

    Just thought I'd add this, in the condition that Walmart returns your film, it would be more merciful if they did lose it.
    captaincranky, Feb 2, 2011
    #17

  18. aj_the_kidd Newcomer, in training Posts: 555

    Based on a post by a previous poster he does have backups, problem is if you read the article, is that allot of his pictures had direct links to external sites. Im guessing since he is part time photograher those links to external sites help bring in business, of which now are gone. But your right responsibility should be taken, yahoo screwed up and they should help him re-create the links
    aj_the_kidd, Feb 2, 2011
    #18

  19. Guest

    WTF Yahoo ?!
    Guest, Feb 2, 2011
    #19

  20. mizkitty Newcomer, in training

    As an IT slave myself...always disable the account first...don't simply delete it.

    Any serious photographer would also have his own backups instead of relying on a 3rd party service in the "cloud". He obviously had to edit the pix before he uploaded them...and he didn't do that on his camera.
    mizkitty, Feb 2, 2011
    #20
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