Our Reddit AMA

Our digital memories are at a crossroads. The dominance of American tech giants over our most personal data raises questions not only about privacy, but also about power and dependency. How safe is your photo archive under U.S. legislation? And what happens to sovereignty when your memories are reduced to training data for AI algorithms?

During a recent Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) on the influential subreddit r/BuyFromEU, the PixelUnion team opened up for discussion. PixelUnion, based in the down-to-earth Dutch city of Alkmaar, is building a European alternative to Google Photos and iCloud. No empty marketing talk-just a deep dive into the tech, the ethics, and the messy reality of a startup taking on Silicon Valley.

In brief

• The trigger: Political turmoil in the U.S. became a catalyst for digital sovereignty.
• The tech: Built on open source (Immich), prioritizing transparency over complex encryption.
• The reality: Candid about the “integration gap” and limitations like today’s map feature.
• The mission: Store data on European servers, powered by 100% renewable energy.

1. Politics as a wake-up call for data sovereignty

For PixelUnion’s founders, choosing an independent path wasn’t an accident-it was an ideological necessity. Political shifts in the U.S.-specifically the start of Donald Trump’s second term-became the breaking point. When major Valley tech CEOs publicly aligned themselves with the new administration, it highlighted just how vulnerable the data of millions of Europeans really is.

“When Trump started his second term and many tech CEOs rallied behind him, our alarm bells really went off. It was a clear wake-up call.”

This political context created immediate urgency. It’s not just about storage space; it’s about the right to control your data under the protections of the GDPR-without fearing opaque policy changes on the other side of the Atlantic.

2. The honest truth about End-to-End Encryption (E2EE)

In tech, transparency is often hard to find-but during the AMA, PixelUnion didn’t dodge a hot topic: End-to-End Encryption. Right now, the service does not offer E2EE. While security is a top priority, this specific form of encryption isn’t part of the current architecture, and there are no short-term plans to implement it.

For privacy purists who see E2EE as a dealbreaker, the founders’ advice was strikingly selfless: they pointed directly to alternatives like zeitkapsl. PixelUnion is choosing a balance between usability and sovereignty, instead of joining a feature arms race that raises the barrier to entry for everyday users.

3. The ethics of open source: the Immich connection

PixelUnion runs on the Immich engine, a powerful open-source project. That inevitably raises questions about the ethics of commercializing someone else’s code. The team explained that their value isn’t in “stealing” code, but in making complex infrastructure accessible.

Immich is fantastic, but it requires know-how around Docker containers, databases, and server administration. PixelUnion bridges that gap for non-technical users. The software is licensed under AGPL 3.0, meaning changes must remain public. As for the relationship with the Immich team at FUTO in Texas: they’ve been in contact and are exploring ways to support the project. Rather than a parasitic relationship, they see themselves as an enabler that expands open source’s reach.

4. The “integration gap” and the rough edges

Let’s be honest: if you switch from Google to a European niche provider, you’ll have to compromise on convenience. American giants have built a suffocating lock-in by tightly weaving photos, email, and documents together. You won’t (yet) find that deep ecosystem integration with a European provider.

The team was also candid about current technical limitations. One specific point of criticism during the AMA was the map feature. Where Google offers a smooth experience, PixelUnion’s map is currently still “lackluster”: zooming and showing selections of photos based on location still needs significant improvement. For now, the team is prioritizing the fundamentals: reliably and safely storing your files.

5. Migration without tears: the Google Photos tool

The biggest barrier to switching is the fear of losing data. To address that, PixelUnion launched a tool that automates migration from Google Photos. The crucial technical detail? It processes the complex JSON metadata from Google Takeout. That ensures your album structures-and, importantly, your location data-are preserved. You don’t have to rebuild your library from scratch; you simply move your digital home.

6. Roadmap: from photos to a full “Drive”?

The question of whether PixelUnion will also become an alternative to Google Drive or OneDrive came up repeatedly. The answer shows focus: the current roadmap is fully geared toward perfecting the photo and video experience (including improvements for multilingual search). While general file storage is on the radar, they’re not making empty promises. First, get the core experience right-then expand.

7. The power of the “Buy European” movement

PixelUnion’s momentum is closely tied to the r/BuyFromEU community. Launching inside that movement generated more traction than any local newspaper headline ever could. The team emphasized that the growth of Europe’s tech sector depends on consumer patience.

“Great products can and should be built here in Europe. That only happens if we’re willing to give local companies a fair chance-even if their products aren’t as polished as the American giants’ yet.”

It’s a call for solidarity: accept small imperfections today, so we can have a sovereign European alternative tomorrow.

8. Competing on price and scale

How does a company from Alkmaar compete with Google’s seemingly bottomless pockets? By being competitive where possible-and honest where it’s hard. Their current pricing is aggressive:

• Google Photos: 100GB for €2 per month.
• PixelUnion: 150GB for €3 per month (better value at the entry tier).
• Future: the current 1TB plan will soon be upgraded to 2TB for the same price of €9.95 per month.

While PixelUnion doesn’t yet have Google’s economies of scale, these steps show that a privacy-friendly model doesn’t have to be unaffordable by definition.

Conclusion: a look at the horizon

The Reddit AMA made one thing painfully clear: we can’t keep blindly trusting the legacy stack of American tech giants. PixelUnion isn’t a copy of Google Photos; it’s a statement. It’s the choice for a model where your memories are simply stored-rather than analyzed by algorithms.

The road to an autonomous European ecosystem is long and requires conscious choices from all of us as consumers. The question is simple: how much of your digital footprint do you want to keep with Big Tech-and are you willing to invest in a safer home for your data?