What is the most important control for privacy?

A password, because it decides who can open the link at all. Pair it with an end date and download control for sensitive shares.

Do these controls slow viewers down?

Barely. They tap the link, type a password once, and they are in. No account or app is needed at any point.

Can I change the settings after I have shared?

Yes. You can change the password, the end date, and the download rules any time, and the link stays the same.

Privacy and security

How to keep your shared photos private: passwords, expiry, and downloads

Sharing and privacy are not opposites. Here are the three controls that keep shared photos and videos private, a password, an end date, and download control, and how to use them together.

Priya Nair

Writer at Galrivo·5 June 2026·2 min read

A keyhole of light on a calm, dark background

People often treat sharing and privacy as a trade-off: the easier something is to share, the more exposed it feels. It does not have to be that way. Three simple controls, used together, let you share freely while keeping things genuinely private. Think of them as who, how long, and what they can keep.

Who: a password

A password answers the question of who gets in. Without one, anyone who ends up with the link can open it, including whoever it gets forwarded to. With one, the link alone is useless. Choose something easy to say out loud, since family will be typing it, and send it through a different channel than the link itself.

Separate the link from the password

Send the link by text and the password by a quick voice note or call. That way a single intercepted message never gives away both.

How long: an end date

An end date answers how long the share should last. Plenty of shares only need to work for a week or a month. Setting an end date means the link closes itself, so an old gallery cannot be reopened or forwarded long after it mattered. More on this in making a link that expires.

What they keep: download control

Download control answers what people can take away. Sometimes you want them to save everything; sometimes you want them to look but not keep. Choosing this per gallery keeps you in charge. The full picture is in controlling downloads.

A person calmly reviewing privacy settings on a laptop — Who, how long, and what they keep: three small switches, real privacy.

Using all three together

The controls are strongest in combination. A baby album might be password protected, view-only, with no end date so family always has it. An event preview might have a password, allow downloads, and expire in two weeks. You decide the mix per gallery.

Scenario	Password	End date	Downloads
Family baby album	Yes	No	View only
Event preview	Yes	2 weeks	Allowed
Public conference photos	No	After campaign	Allowed
Private set for a few people	Yes	Short	View only

Privacy that is structural

These controls sit on top of a foundation: with Galrivo your files stay in your Drive and are only ever the ones you pick. See what drive.file access means.

Key takeaways

Three controls cover privacy: a password (who), an end date (how long), downloads (what they keep).
Send the link and password through different channels.
Mix the three differently for each gallery to fit the situation.
They sit on a base where your files stay in your Drive and only your picks are shared.

Frequently asked questions

Share your media the easy way

Turn the photos and videos in your Google Drive into one clean link, with a password and an end date if you want. Free to start, no app for the people you send it to.

Make my first gallery

Priya Nair

Writer at Galrivo

Priya writes Galrivo's plain-English how-to guides. She is happiest turning a fiddly tech task into three simple steps anyone can follow.