Patent Publication Number: US-9420222-B2

Title: Automatic image deletion

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     1. Technical Field 
     The exemplary and non-limiting embodiments relate generally to digital images and, more particularly, to deleting digital images from an apparatus. 
     2. Brief Description of Prior Developments 
     Devices having a digital camera, such as a smartphone for example, are well known. Images taken by the digital camera are stored in an internal memory in images files, such as still images and video images for example. If the image files are not deleted, and the user continues to capture additional images, the internal memory will become full, and the device will be prevented from storing any additional images. 
     SUMMARY 
     The following summary is merely intended to be exemplary. The summary is not intended to limit the scope of the claims. 
     In accordance with one aspect, an example embodiment is provided in an apparatus comprising at least one processor; and at least one non-transitory memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to automatic deletion of at least one image from the at least one memory when a copy of an image file of the image is determined to have been transmitted from the apparatus as a backup copy of the image file, and the image file is determined to not have predetermined metadata based upon a user handling or manipulating the image file after the image was captured by the apparatus. The automatic deletion does not occur when the copy of the image file has not been transmitted from the apparatus as a backup copy of the image, and where the automatic deletion does not occur when the image file has the predetermined metadata based upon the user handling or manipulating the image file after the image was captured by the apparatus. 
     In accordance with one aspect, an example method comprises determining if a copy of an image file of an image has been transmitted from an apparatus as a backup copy of the image file; determining if the image file has predetermined metadata based upon a user handling or manipulating the image file after the image was captured by the apparatus; and automatically deleting the image from the apparatus based upon both the image file having been determined to have been transmitted from the apparatus as the backup copy of the image file, and the image file having been determined to not have the predetermined metadata based upon the user handling or manipulating the image file after the image was captured by the apparatus. 
     In accordance with one aspect, an example embodiment is provided in a non-transitory program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine for performing operations, the operations comprising determining if a copy of an image file of an image has been transmitted from an apparatus as a backup copy of the image file; determining if the image file has predetermined metadata based upon a user handling or manipulating the image file after the image was captured by the apparatus; and automatically deleting the image from the apparatus based upon both the image file having been determined to have been transmitted from the apparatus as a backup copy of the image file, and the image file having been determined to not have the predetermined metadata based upon the user handling or manipulating the image file after the image was captured by the apparatus. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The foregoing aspects and other features are explained in the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a front view of an example embodiment of an apparatus comprising features as described herein; 
         FIG. 2  is a rear view of the apparatus shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a diagram illustrating some components of the apparatus shown in  FIGS. 1-2 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a diagram illustrating a digitally captured image being formed into an image file in the apparatus; 
         FIG. 5  is a diagram illustrating transferring of image files from and to the apparatus; 
         FIG. 6  is a diagram illustrating an example method; 
         FIG. 7  is a diagram illustrating an example method; 
         FIG. 8  is a diagram illustrating example metadata of the image file shown in  FIG. 46 ; 
         FIG. 9  is a diagram illustrating an example method; 
         FIG. 10  is a diagram illustrating an example method; 
         FIG. 11  is a diagram illustrating a grouping of image files in the apparatus and a same group in a server; and 
         FIG. 12  is a diagram illustrating an example method. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , there is shown a front view of an apparatus  10  incorporating features of an example embodiment. Although the features will be described with reference to the example embodiments shown in the drawings, it should be understood that features can be embodied in many alternate forms of embodiments. In addition, any suitable size, shape or type of elements or materials could be used. 
     The apparatus  10  may be a hand-held portable apparatus, such as a communications device which includes a telephone application for example. In the example shown the apparatus  10  is a smartphone which includes a camera and a camera application. The apparatus  10  may additionally or alternatively comprise an Internet browser application, a video recorder application, a music player and recorder application, an email application, a navigation application, a gaming application, and/or any other suitable electronic device application. In an alternate example embodiment the apparatus might not be a smartphone. 
     Referring also to  FIGS. 2-3 , the apparatus  10 , in this example embodiment, comprises a housing  12 , a touchscreen  14 , a receiver  16 , a transmitter  18 , a controller  20 , a rechargeable battery  26  and a camera  30 . However, all of these features are not necessary to implement the features described below. The controller  20  may include at least one processor  22 , at least one memory  24 , and software  28 . The electronic circuitry inside the housing  12  may comprise at least one printed wiring board (PWB)  21  having components such as the controller  20  thereon. The receiver  16  and transmitter form a primary communications system to allow the apparatus  10  to communicate with a wireless telephone system, such as a mobile telephone base station for example. 
     In this example, the apparatus  10  includes the camera  30  which is located at the rear side  13  of the apparatus, a front camera  32 , an LED  34 , and a flash system  36 . The LED  34  and the flash system  36  are also visible at the rear side of the apparatus, and are provided for the camera  30 . The cameras  30 ,  32 , the LED and the flash system  36  are connected to the controller  20  such that the controller  20  may control their operation. In an alternate example embodiment the rear side may comprise more than one camera, and/or the front side could comprise more than one camera. The apparatus  10  includes a sound transducer provided as a microphone  38 . In an alternate example the apparatus may comprise more than one microphone. The apparatus  10  includes a sound transducer provided as an earpiece  40 , and a sound transducer provided as a speaker  42 . More or less than one speaker may be provided. 
     Referring also to  FIG. 4 , the apparatus  10  is configured to capture images by means of its camera  30  or  32 , such as image  44  for example, and store the image in the memory  24  as an image file  46 . The image  44  may be a still image or a video image for example. The image file includes a portion  47  having the image  44  and a portion  48  having metadata for the image file such as, for example, the date the image was captured, title, subject, location of the apparatus  10  when the image was captured (such as with use of GPS for example), rating, tags, and comments. These are only some examples of the metadata which may be stored in the image file. Some of the metadata may be added or changed after the image file is created, such as by adding a comment for example. 
     Referring also to  FIG. 5 , the apparatus  10  is configured to transmit a copy of the image files  46  to a remote storage device  50  as indicated by arrow  52 . The remote storage device  50  may be a personal PC or cloud storage or server for example. The transmission  52  may be via the Internet and use the wireless transmitter  18  for example. This is merely an example of the transmission  52 . Any suitable downloading/uploading or export/import of the image files  46  between the apparatus  10  and another device as a backup or duplicate copy of the image files in the apparatus  10  may be provided. One or more of the backup image file  46 ′ may be downloaded back to the apparatus  10  when desired as indicated by arrow  54 . As indicated by arrow  58 , a copy of the image file may also be transmitted to another device  56 , such as other smartphone for example, as a sharing of the image file with another person. 
     In the example embodiment shown, the apparatus is configured to automatically record, as one of the pieces of metadata  48 , an indication if a copy of an image file has been transmitted from the apparatus  10  to another device as a backup or duplicate copy of the image file. Referring also to  FIG. 6 , as indicated by block  60  an example method may comprise exporting a copy  46 ′ of the image file  46  to the remote storage  50 , and adding metadata to the image file  46  indicating that a copy of the image file has been exported as indicated by block  62 . 
     Also in the example embodiment shown, the apparatus is configured to automatically record, as one of the pieces of metadata  48 , an indication if a user has handled or manipulated the image file  46  after the image was captured by the apparatus  10 . The handling or manipulation may comprise, for example, editing of the image (such as with digital image editing software for example), sharing the image with another user (such as sharing  58  for example), or adding a comment to the image (such as adding text to a comment field in the metadata  48  for example). These are only some examples and should not be considered as limiting. Referring also to  FIG. 7 , as indicated by block  64  an example method may comprise a user handling or manipulating the image file  46  after the image was captured by the apparatus  10 , and adding metadata to the image file  46  based upon the user having handled or manipulated the image file as indicated by block  66 . 
     Referring also to  FIG. 8 , an example is shown where the metadata  48  of the image file  46  includes a field  68  to indicate that the transmission  52  has occurred, and a field  70  to indicate that the user has handled or manipulated the image file  46  after the image was captured by the apparatus  10 . The field  70  may be used as predetermined metadata to determine if the image file may be automatically deleted by the apparatus  10  as further understood below. The entry in the field  70  may be determined based upon entries in other fields of the metadata, such as field  72  and/or  74  for example. Metadata field  72  may store an indication if the image file  46  has been shared, such as by transmission  58  for example. Metadata field  74  may store if or when the image  44  has been edited, such as the digital image  44  being changed after it was captured. Entries into these fields  72 ,  74 , or other predetermined user handling or manipulation fields, may cause an entry into the field  70 . Alternatively, the field  70  may not be provided and, instead, predetermined user handling or manipulation fields (such as  72  and/or  74  for example) may be used in the method described below. 
     Features as described herein may be used to delete image files on the apparatus  10 , which the user is least interested in, after duplicating the image files, such as online with another device for example. Referring also to  FIG. 9 , an example method may comprise determining if a copy  46 ′ of the image file  46  has been exported or otherwise transmitted from the apparatus  10  as a backup or duplicate copy of the image file  46  as indicated by block  76 ; determining if the image file  46  has predetermined metadata  70 ,  72 ,  74  based upon a user handling or manipulating the image file after the image  44  was captured by the apparatus  10  as indicated by block  78 ; and as indicated by block  80  automatically deleting the image file  46  from the apparatus  10  based upon both the image file having been determined to have been exported from the apparatus as the backup copy of the image file, and the image file having been determined to not have the predetermined metadata. 
     Features as described herein may provide a program which may be run on a mobile device with access to internet, where the mobile device has limited storage space. With the ease and low cost of taking a lot of images with a digital camera, users often end up having a lot of images on the device. The images may be automatically duplicated to another device, such as a cloud-based storage solution for example, and some of these images may be shared by the user or manually edited by the user. With a conventional device, at some point the user runs out of memory space on the device, but the user still wants to take new pictures. 
     With features as described herein, once an image has been captured on the apparatus the image file may be sent into a queue to be uploaded as a backed-up copy to a different device, such as via the Internet for example, at an earliest convenient time (subject to user preferences, network availability, etc.) After the image file has been backed-up, the local copy of the image on the apparatus  10  may be marked as “duplicated” or “backed-up” such as with field  68  for example. An image which has been handled or manipulated by the user (e.g. “edited”, “shared” or “commented” for example) may be marked with a corresponding status, such as in field  70  for example. When memory image storage space on the apparatus  10  is beginning to run low, the system may then automatically delete image files (or at least the image portion  47  of the image files) which have been marked as “duplicated” or “backed-up”, and which do not have contrary indications in other predetermined metadata fields. In other words, the system may automatically delete image files (or at least the image portion  47  of the image files) which have been marked as “duplicated” or “backed-up”, where the files do not have the predetermined metadata fields  70 ,  72 ,  74  having been marked for example. 
     If multiple images are captured at a same time and/or in a same location, these image files may be grouped by the system. Field  82  in  FIG. 8  for example shows that a Group indicator may be stored as metadata for each of the image files. Algorithms may be used to try to find the best image and mark it as such (e.g., the sharpest image). Field  84  in  FIG. 8  for example shows that a Group Selected Image indicator may be stored as metadata for each of the image files in the group. 
     The system may be configured to still track the removed image, such as with metadata field  86  being used to create a file having no image viewing data but still having as least some of the original metadata for the deleted image. The system may be configured to download one or more of the image files  46 ′ back from the server after the original file  46  was deleted if the user wants to. A removed image or image file may be noted when browsing the images on the display  14 , such as when reaching a grouping where the removed image(s) would have been included (e.g. when sorting by date or location). In one type of example a removed image may be illustrated on an image viewer by use of a small thumbnail of the removed image(s) to make it easier for the user to determine if the user wants to download the removed image(s) to the apparatus again. It may also be possible to find “similar” deleted images when viewing an image based on location or time. Group fields  82  and/or  84  may be used for this purpose. In another example, the apparatus may be configured to automatically download previews of deleted images from the device  46 ′ if the user wants to look at them. 
     Any image that has been manually re-downloaded  54  by the user may be marked with this information, such as at metadata field  88 , and in the future the metadata field  88  may be used such that the image file will not be automatically removed again. 
     Features as described herein may be used to prevent indiscriminately deleting images based upon more than a user explicitly “locking” the image file. Features as described herein may appear seamless to the user with the only difference of removing the “clutter” of old files which are of little interest. 
     In one example embodiment a “living” type of metadata may be provided where at least some of the metadata of an image file changed based upon the user&#39;s interaction with that image file. The method may be applied to a set of images existing in the apparatus where the images are grouped based on content, time or other criteria. The method may also be applied to one or more images which are no longer on the apparatus; stored in another device. In one type of example method means may be provided to delete, undelete, arrange and/or replace images based on the living metadata. An “undelete” operation may comprise an at least partial restoration of a file, which was previously at least partially deleted from the apparatus  10 , from a backup copy of the file stored on the server  50 . An example method to undelete may comprise a living image folder on the apparatus where images are dynamically changed based on user interaction, such as on the apparatus and/or at the device  46 , such as ‘hits’ in with on online album viewable by a plurality of people. This example method may allow for deleting of low scoring images from the apparatus  10  and undeleting the high scoring ones on the apparatus  10  and/or the server  46 ′, or replacing some from an image pool or portfolio, such as on the server  46 ′, to enhance a ‘story’ the images provide. If the portfolio is online on the server  46 ′, the scoring may also be applied directly to the user&#39;s images by third parties. 
     One of the features as described herein is the use of “living metadata” for a media file, such as an image file or video file for example. In particular, metadata may change based upon the file being manipulated or handled, and that changed metadata may them be used as a basis for additional actions. The living metadata may include, for example, tracking deletion of an image, tracking undeletion of an image, and/or grouping of images. The “living metadata” feature is not limited for use with only the apparatus  10 , and may comprise input and interaction with server  50  and/or other devices  56 . 
     One example may comprise the image file having a number of views field  90  as illustrated in  FIG. 8 . The apparatus may be configured to delete one or more of the images in a group  82  based upon the number of views for the image in that group. For example, the apparatus  10  may be configured to delete all the images in a group except for the images with the highest number in the Number of Views filed 90. As another example, the apparatus  10  may be configured to delete all the images in a group except for a predetermined number images with the highest number in the Number of Views filed 90, such as 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 images for example. These are merely some examples and should not be considered as limiting. Referring also to  FIG. 10 , in one type of example embodiment, if the number of views of an image  44 A on the server  50  exceed the number of views of a different image  44 B on the apparatus  10 , where  44 A and  44 B have a same group in  82 , then the apparatus  10  may be configured to automatically undelete image  44 A and automatically delete image  44 B, where image  44 B is backup onto the server  50 . Thus, a portfolio or group of images may be viewed on the apparatus  10 , and other images of the same group not viewed because the images have been deleted, based upon metadata which changes over time, such that the viewed images may change over time. This is because of the “living” or “dynamic” metadata which may be used as a basis for determining which images are deleted or not deleted, and this basis may be updated and acted upon based upon the changes to the “living” or “dynamic” metadata. 
     The living, dynamic metadata fields may include, for example Number of Views field  90  or any other suitable metadata entry which tracks or is updated based upon actions regarding an image file after the image file is created. For example, one type of metadata field may be a number of entries, such as “likes” for example, entered for an image via one or more social media applications, such as FACEBOOK for example. Input from other social media applications, such as TWITTER for example, may alternatively or additionally be used for tracking or updating one or more living, dynamic metadata fields. For example, with reference to  FIG. 10 , input  106  from one or more social media applications  104  may be used to change or update at least one metadata in the metadata portion  48 A of the image file  46 A. Likewise, input  108  form one or more other devices or applications  110  may be used to change or update at least one portion of metadata in the metadata portion  48 A of the image file  46 A. The other application(s)  110  may be at least partially in the apparatus  10 . Alternatively or additionally, input  106 ′ from one or more social media applications  104  may be used to change or update at least one metadata in the metadata portion  48 A of the image file  46 A′ or image file  46 B shown in  FIG. 11 . 
       FIG. 11  illustrates a group  102  of image files  46 A-D on the server  50  which have been grouped together, and the corresponding files  46 B,  46 A′,  46 C′ and  46 D′ on the apparatus  10 . For the group  102  on the apparatus  10  each image file has a metadata portion  48 A- 48 D, but only image B has the image portion  47 A. For the group  102  on the server  50  all of the files have both the image portions  47 A- 47 D and the metadata portions  48 A- 48 D. 
     The updating of the “living metadata” such as  90  for example, is not limited to input at the apparatus  10 . For example, referring to  FIG. 12 , as indicated by block  92  metadata for an image file  44 A on the server  50  may be updated based at least partially upon a predetermined manipulation or handling or viewing of the image file  44 A while on the server  50 . This may be, for example, the image  44 A being viewed by third parties and metadata field  90  being updated based upon the number of views or “hits” of the image file. As indicated by block  94 , the apparatus  10  and/or the server  50  may be configured to compare the metadata in the image file for the image  44 A on the server  50  to the metadata in the image file for the same image on the apparatus  10 . Then, based at least partially upon the comparison, the apparatus  10  and/or server  50  may be configured to automatically replace the image file on the apparatus  10  with the image file on the server  50  as indicated by block  96  or, automatically update the metadata for the image file on the apparatus with the metadata from the image file on the server as indicated by block  100 . For block  96  the replacement is effectively an automatic “undelete” of the image from the apparatus  10  based upon the “living” dynamic metadata associated with that image; the living metadata being on the apparatus  10  and/or the server  50  and/or other apparatus  56  for example. If the image file on the apparatus  10  is replace with the image file from the server, then a different image may be automatically deleted from the apparatus  10  as indicated by block  98 . The apparatus  10  may be configured to allow the user to indicate or select one or more parameters for replacement, and/or to ignore or override a replacement in predetermined circumstances. For example the system may be able to allow a user to indicate that replacement should only happen if the number of “hits” for an image on the server  50  is at least a predetermined number or percentage larger than the number of “hits” for the image on the apparatus  10 , such as 10 hits or 5 percent for example. Thus, a user configurable setting or override for the automatic replacement or updating may be provided on the apparatus. 
     As noted above, it may be possible to access or manipulate a file on a server, such as if a service such as SKYDRIVE for example is used to back up the content. In that case the metadata update, or other image file update, could be propagated to the apparatus  10  and used to mark an image (such as with metadata as “accessed”, “shared”, etc.) on the apparatus even if the file has not been accessed on the apparatus  10  itself. Features as described herein may be used in a viewer having a “live window tile” for example where changing images on the “live window tile” change over time. The images chosen to be shown in the “live window” may be based, at least partially, upon the “living metadata” field(s) in the metadata  48 . 
     Features as described herein may be used with the NOKIA STORYTELLER application which may be used to automatically sorts photos, videos and cinemagraphs into interactive groups called stories. In the STORYTELLER application a timeline is where one may browse all stories and modify them, then view them as slideshows or share them with friends. One may also sort photos and videos by location, as well as add captions to tell even more of the story. Plus, when one is looking at a photo, one can zoom out to see where the photo was taken on a map. A Shared link in an image may indicate that one is able to share a photo-based story with other people, such as via a social media application or web site for example. 
     An example embodiment may be provided in an apparatus comprising at least one processor  22 ; and at least one non-transitory memory  24  including computer program code  28 , the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform automatic deletion of at least one image file  46  from the at least one memory when a copy  46 ′ of the image file of the image is determined to have been transmitted from the apparatus as a backup copy of the image file, and the image file  46  is determined to not have predetermined metadata based upon a user handling or manipulating the image file after the image was captured by the apparatus, where the automatic deletion does not occur when the copy of the image file has not been transmitted from the apparatus as a backup copy of the image, and where the automatic deletion does not occur when the image file has the predetermined metadata based upon the user handling or manipulating the image file after the image was captured by the apparatus. 
     The at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, automatically undelete the at least one image from the apparatus based upon a predetermined event or predetermined data, such as the events and data differences and comparisons noted in the example embodiments described above for example. The apparatus may be configured to automatically add metadata to the image file when the image file has been transmitted from the apparatus as a backup copy of the image file. Thus, the apparatus may be configured to automatically add metadata to the image file based upon the image file having been transmitted from the apparatus as a backup copy of the image file. The apparatus may be configured to automatically add metadata to the image file prior to and/or after the image file has been transmitted from the apparatus as a backup copy of the image file. The apparatus may be configured to automatically add metadata to the image file when the image file is handled or manipulated by the user after the image was captured by the apparatus. Thus, the apparatus may be configured to automatically add metadata to the image file based upon the image file having been handled or manipulated by the user after the image was captured by the apparatus. The predetermined metadata may comprise metadata regarding at least one of the image file having been edited by the user after the image was captured by the apparatus, the image file having been shared by the user with another apparatus or another user, the user adding a comment or title to the image file. The apparatus may be configured to automatically add metadata to a plurality of the at least one image file indicating a group of the at least one image file with one another, where the group is based upon a common time and/or date of capture of the respective images, and/or based upon a common location of the apparatus during capture of the respective images. The apparatus may be configured to automatically select one of the images in the group and add metadata to the image file for the selected image to prevent the automatic deletion of the selected image. The apparatus may be configured to provide an indicator for an image viewer of the apparatus for an image file which has been automatically deleted. The apparatus may be configured to automatically provide an indicator for an image viewer of the apparatus identifying at least one similar image in the memory for an image file which has been automatically deleted. The apparatus may be configured to automatically add metadata to an image file which has been imported to the apparatus from the backup copy of the image file to prevent the imported image file from being automatically deleted again from the apparatus. The apparatus may further comprise a housing; at least one printed wiring board in the housing, where the least one printed wiring board has the at least one memory and the at least one processor connected thereto; a battery connected to the least one printed wiring board; an electronic display connected to least one printed wiring board; and at least one camera connected to the least one printed wiring board. 
     An example method may comprise determining if a copy of an image file of an image has been transmitted from an apparatus as a backup copy of the image file; determining if the image file has predetermined metadata based upon a user handling or manipulating the image file after the image was captured by the apparatus; and automatically deleting the image file from the apparatus based upon both the image file having been determined to have been transmitted from the apparatus as the backup copy of the image file, and the image file having been determined to not have the predetermined metadata based upon the user handling or manipulating the image file after the image was captured by the apparatus. 
     The method may further comprise automatically adding metadata to the image file when the image file has been transmitted from the apparatus as a backup copy of the image file. The method may further comprise automatically adding metadata to the image file when the image file is handled or manipulated by the user after the image was captured by the apparatus. The predetermined metadata comprises metadata regarding at least one of the image file having been edited by the user after the image was captured by the apparatus, the image file having been shared by the user with another apparatus or another user, the user adding a comment or title to the image file. The method may further comprise automatically adding metadata to a plurality of the at least one image file indicating a group of the at least one image file with one another, where the group is based upon a common time and/or date of capture of the respective images, and/or based upon a common location of the apparatus during capture of the respective images. The method may further comprise automatically selecting one of the images in the group and adding metadata to the image file for the selected image to prevent the automatic deletion of the image file for the selected image. The method may further comprise providing an indicator for an image viewer of the apparatus for an image file which has been automatically deleted. The method may further comprise automatically providing an indicator for an image viewer of the apparatus identifying at least one similar image in the memory for an image file which has been automatically deleted. The method may further comprise automatically adding metadata to an image file which has been imported to the apparatus from the backup copy of the image file to prevent the imported image file from being automatically deleted again from the apparatus. 
     An example embodiment may be provided in a non-transitory program storage device, such as  24  for example, readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine for performing operations, the operations comprising determining if a copy of an image file of an image has been transmitted from an apparatus as a backup copy of the image file; determining if the image file has predetermined metadata based upon a user handling or manipulating the image file after the image was captured by the apparatus; and automatically deleting the image file from the apparatus based upon both the image file having been determined to have been transmitted from the apparatus as a backup copy of the image file, and the image file having been determined to not have the predetermined metadata based upon the user handling or manipulating the image file after the image was captured by the apparatus. 
     An example embodiment may be provided in an apparatus comprising at least one processor; and at least one non-transitory memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform automatic deletion of at least one image from the at least one memory based upon at least one automatic deletion parameter, and subsequent automatic undeletion of the at least one image from the at least one memory based upon at least one automatic undeletion parameter. The at least one automatic deletion parameter and the at least one automatic undeletion parameter may be a same parameter such as a number of view or “hits” of an image in an image file. The automatic undeletion may also be used when there has been a previous manual or non-automatic deletion from the apparatus. The apparatus may also be configured to prevent the automatic undeletion, such as a metadata field in the metadata portion of an image file on the apparatus  10  for example. 
     Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may be utilized as the memory. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a non-transitory computer readable storage medium. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium does not include propagating signals and may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readable storage medium would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. 
     Features as described above have been described with use of metadata information stored in the image file. It should be understood that the information used for determining whether or not an image file should be automatically deleted might not be stored as metadata and may be stored in a file separate from the image file, such as a lookup table for example. 
     It should be understood that the foregoing description is only illustrative. Various alternatives and modifications can be devised by those skilled in the art. For example, features recited in the various dependent claims could be combined with each other in any suitable combination(s). In addition, features from different embodiments described above could be selectively combined into a new embodiment. Accordingly, the description is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variances which fall within the scope of the appended claims.