According to a number of online user complaints, iCloud for Windows corrupts certain videos. There have also been reports of a more concerning issue: photos from strangers appearing in people’s iCloud Photo libraries.
Some of these complaints were gathered by MacRumors from their forums. Videos taken with the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro models, according to one affected user, are not properly synced with iCloud for Windows. Certain videos become “black with scan lines, rendering the videos unwatchable” after being recorded and synced with iCloud for Windows.
While that is a serious issue, some other users have reported seeing photos and even videos in their photo libraries that they do not recognize. Although nothing has been confirmed, it is possible that these photos or videos are from other people’s iCloud libraries.
One affected user described the issue as follows:
Videos recorded from an iPhone 14 Pro Max are being corrupted by iCloud for Windows, resulting in black videos with scan lines. On rare occasions, it inserts stills from unknown sources, possibly other people’s iCloud accounts, into videos. I’ve been shown photos of people’s families I’ve never met, soccer games, and other random images. This is obviously extremely concerning and does not make me feel safe using iCloud.
These issues appear to be limited to the dedicated iCloud for Windows app, rather than the recently launched iCloud Photos integration in Windows 11.
More specific information about these issues is currently unavailable. The culprit appears to be the transfer of specific file types from the iPhone to iCloud rendering on Windows. The issue appears to be a server-side issue on Apple’s end, rather than something on Microsoft’s.
