After IOS 17.2 update all photos more than 2 days old disappeared from my iPhone 12 Pro Max.

I only recently started using iCloud backup and paid for extra storage. If iCloud is going to lose, instead of backing up data, I'm reconsidering my decision to use iCloud! Also, wondering about security/privacy issues! Where did all the files that disappeared go? Does someone at Apple/iCloud have access to these files?

Since others have had the same problem, I'm replying to my own question with an update ... I didn't want to take a chance on using iTunes back up to restore photos and losing other data, so did NOT do restore. In addition to iTunes back up, the important photos on my phone are also on my compute. My concern is not the photographs, but references like auto insurance proof of coverage, discount coupons, memberships, etc. Of course, a time consuming task trying to remember exactly what had been on the phone!

My settings are definitely NOT on auto update IOS and I will confirm that others aren't losing data before I move forward with the next update!

Just covering all bases in troubleshooting process. Bottom line is that photos that had been synchronized to iCloud disappeared after update! This doesn’t appear to be an unusual occurrence. Have encountered many others with same issue!