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2Pad Offers Security For Photo Video Sharing
By
Herb Brandon 2Pad.com launched their new "private media sharing" concept to counter the dangerous trend of excessive public publishing. The general public is now starting to discover the dangers of posting intimate photos or videos online. The launch of 2Pad's on-line photo and video sharing security solution comes as a potent reassurance to online communities everywhere and in support of the US AD Councils campaign: "Think before you post". aimed at increasing awareness of the dangers of posting online. The US Ad Council states that sixty-one percent of 13-17 year olds have a personal profile on a social networking site and half have also posted pictures of themselves. Teen girls are particularly at risk - of 1 in 7 youth who received a sexual solicitation or approach over the Internet, 70 percent were girls. The goal of the third year of the Online Sexual Exploitation PSA campaign is to make teen girls aware of the potential dangers of sharing and posting personal information online and of communicating with unfamiliar people to help reduce their risk of sexual victimization and abduction. The PSAs direct teen girls to “Think Before You Post,” and as with the previous two years, ask viewers and listeners to visit www.cybertipline.com, to get tips on how to prevent, detect, and report suspicious online behavior.
Flickr which boasts itself as "almost certainly the best online photo management and sharing application in the world," provides thousands of photos for which one can share with the world. Flickr states: "Show off your favorite photos to the world, securely and privately show photos to your friends and family, or blog the photos you take with a cameraphone." But when Flickr states "securely" many people do not notice nor stop to think what the word securely means and the extent of harm for which people can do with their on-line photos. "Most people who surf the Web know only the mere basics and not the dangers," says Aaron Boublil, CEO of 2Pad."When they enter and upload photos and videos to such sites as Flickr, MySpace and YouTube they are given an option to make their photos and videos private, but many do not know what this option means. Many do not even see this option. At 2Pad there is no option. There is no misunderstandings. All photos and videos uploaded to 2Pad.com are secure and remain private. There is no room for mistake, photo fraud or theft." 2Pad launched its beta version photo and video sharing Website in October to counter the trend of sharing media to random contacts online and providing users with complete control when sharing their digital photographs and videos. With the ability to decide which of their contacts can views which media, users can begin to relax and don't need to think before they post. "We would like to see 2Pad serving to strengthen personal relationships rather than seeking new friends online," says Boublil. "2Pad is the precise security tool solution needed to bring privacy back to the Internet." In addition to being the first safe and private online media sharing service, 2Pad is an easy-to-use service. 2Pad makes adding media as easy as emailing photos or videos. On just needs to email 2pad@2pad.com and an account is created with an Ajax based Web 2.0 user interface. Users send their pictures and videos by e-mail to the company, which creates a free media mailbox with unlimited space to collect all your media attachments in one place. You then decide which photos or videos you want to share with whom, select the contacts and send them out. The pictures go directly to your friends' or family member's 2pad accounts. "People think sharing is a lot of fun until they realize that a picture of their child in the bath has been viewed hundreds of times by strangers, or when a college turns down an applicant after searching the Net and finding dozens of pictures of the student lying drunk on the floor," explains Susi Doring, marketing manager at Israel media sharing site 2Pad. "Many users don't check their privacy and it's causing great alarm. Sharing has hit a critical point when it gets out of hand. Pictures are viewable not just by friends but strangers as well," she adds. "This way you can send a nice picture of yourself at a wedding to your mom and dad, and send the picture of yourself dancing on a table to friends," said Doring. "It's a lot more private and it keeps things organized." Unlike existing media sharing sites, the founders of 2Pad believe that users will be predominantly in their middle age - especially women who might want to share recipes or pictures with friends. "The older generation is more aware of privacy issues and want to keep their lives private," says Doring. The Ra'anana, Israel based 2Pad was founded in early 2006 by three French entrepreneurs who emigrated to Israel, Aaron Boublil, Ary Tebeka, and Philippe Lumbroso. All three men are experienced in the industry. Boublil founded Mediaquest in 1995, which he later sold to marketing giant Ogilvy. He worked there until 2005, heading Ogilvy's dot.com marketing division in France. Tebeka and Lumbroso co-founded Aplio, a VoIP hardware manufacturer sold to IDT/Net2Phone in 2000 for $50 million. 2pad is self-funded. E-mailing
photos and videos sometimes takes forever, and many users can't
even open the attachments. Luckily, today's photo-sharing services
make showing pictures to friends and family fast and easy. "No
one has access to your account without your password or magic
link," says Boublil. "However, one of the benefits
of 2Pad is the ease in which you can share pictures from your
2Pad with other people. To share pictures, select the pictures
you want to share, and either choose existing recipients from
your contact list, or add new people to your contact list to
receive the pictures and videos." Boublil
says that there are two types of email you can receive from
2Pad. The first type are notifications that you (or a friend)
have added pictures to your 2Pad.com account. The second type
are notifications about your photo and or video sharing service.
You can easily opt out of 2Pad emails by clicking one of the
links at the bottom of the notification emails. You can also
block a specific user and stop receiving all notifications from
2Pad. 2Pad states that there is no limit to the number of pictures or videos that one can store on their site. However, there is a limit to the size of the pictures stored on the site. There are three levels of service. With their free service, you may store up to 1 GB. The maximum file size for a single picture or video is 20 MB, and videos are limited to 5 minutes in length. With 2Pad.com enhanced photo sharing service, you may store up to 5 GB. Your maximum file size for a single picture or video is 100 MB, and videos are limited to 10 minutes in length. With their Premium photo sharing service, you may store up to 20 GB. Your maximum file size for a single picture or video is 200 MB, and videos are limited to 20 minutes in length.
2Pad has partnered with Qoop and Cewe for global print ordering
and fulfillment. One can order prints or have their pictures
printed on mugs, shirts, and more. "Because
the photos or videos that one uploads are dedicated to one unique
person, your message can be 100 percent personal," says
Boublil. "And when you see how well integrated the message
becomes, next to the photo or video media, it becomes a true
opportunity to express something personal. When one views their
photos, they benefit from the context associated with it, as
seen by the date it was taken, the message written, the date
it was sent, who sent it. In short each media in your 2Pad account
is intimate, personal and secure. And the more personal it is
the more private it has to be."
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