Sure, in practice there's not much of a difference, I'm nitpicking, but it's not exactly the same thing.
People might leak the URL unintentionally, for instance by sending the link to others, not knowing that the photo owner doesn't want them to see the photo.
One can also use URLs in places where images are not allowed, for example when submitting them to community websites, without first uploading the photo somewhere and leaving a trail.
Comments
Sure, in practice there's not much of a difference, I'm nitpicking, but it's not exactly the same thing.
People might leak the URL unintentionally, for instance by sending the link to others, not knowing that the photo owner doesn't want them to see the photo.
One can also use URLs in places where images are not allowed, for example when submitting them to community websites, without first uploading the photo somewhere and leaving a trail.