Is it normal that i don't trust cloud storage?

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13 Comments

I've been looking for a small, cheap laptop to carry around, and I keep having to click around these things called "chromebooks".

I don't understand why people are okay with having no offline functionality and no storage. You might as well just buy a keyboard for your phone. Apparently I'm expected to just store all of my files on a web drive, and I can't stomach that.

Personally, I don't think anything can possibly be faster, safer, or more secure than offline storage. Just make sure to back it up and keep the drive safe. Meanwhile with clouds, you have your files on a system managed by someone else, and any outage or authentication issue means you can't get to them. I think it's a privacy issue and a security problem. Frankly, anything that's online, all the time, is technically at risk.

That said, I've never seen any of my storage drives on any of my systems over the years stop working, so I'm lacking some of the paranoia other people might have. What do you guys think?

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70% Normal
Based on 20 votes (14 yes)
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Comments ( 13 )
  • Shackleford96
    5 years ago

    You should keep this way of thinking. It's smart. People on down the line will probably be too used to it to know anything different.

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  • JellyBeanBandit
    5 years ago

    I'd never keep it all solely on the cloud, I have everything stored on my Laptop locally and then also on the cloud. Plus I have an external hard drive as well because I'm paranoid.

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  • lordofopinions
    5 years ago

    I used to back up data to an external drive but I found it a pain so now I am using a cloud service called Syncplicity. It does real time backups of new or changed files and you don't have to put files you want backed up in a special folder. You can simply right click on any folder such as My Documents and be assured everything will get backed up including the desktop.

    Restoring us real easy. Just install Windows and the Syncplicity program, log into it and everything will get restored. It's kinds neat to watch all those desktop files magically appear. :)

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  • leggs91200
    5 years ago

    I do not use it.
    People always say "I do not have anything to hide" and today you probably honestly feel that way.
    What happens though at some point when that stuff comes back to mess up your future plans? For example -
    Say you are dating some man or woman 10 years from now that wants to cause a bunch of useless drama because he or she found photos of some ex that you dated?

    It doesn't SEEM like a big deal but there ARE people out there what will try to use stuff against you in any way they can.

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  • [Old Memory]
    5 years ago

    I think you're exactly right. I'm waiting for the news to be blowing up saying that Cloud failed and people are pissed.

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  • cipro
    5 years ago

    Portable hard drives are teh best.

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  • donteatstuffoffthesidewalk
    5 years ago

    rotary drives are between 5 and 10 cents a gb

    solid state is gittin down towards 50 cents or so a gb

    its a no brainer

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  • kelili
    5 years ago

    I feel the same way too but then I don't have any secret or nude pictures. Nothing that would embarass me if it goes public. I guess that part of the reason I don't entire trust it is because I tend to forget passwords and I'm used to the old methods of saving my pictures/documents.

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  • Boojum
    5 years ago

    I also instinctively feel uneasy about cloud storage, and I dislike the way Windows 10 keeps trying to nudge me in the direction of making OneDrive my default storage.

    People are easily seduced by convenience, and big companies are very good at spotting opportunities and herding sleep-walking consumers in directions that benefit the companies more than the users. And as Nikkiclaire says, even if the firms are reasonably ethical today, once you put your data out there, it's there literally forever. We have no idea what the holders of our data are going to be allowed to do with it ten or twenty years from now.

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  • nikkiclaire
    5 years ago

    Having access to files while you are offline is your only benefit. Storing files locally on a computer that is ever connected to the internet, is just as insecure as cloud storage.

    The only truelly safe thing would be to only access a file while a computer is offline, then remove it to a local, unattached, encrypted device/drive when online.

    No one is going to go to that trouble.

    What do you have that is so important? More important than say, handing over a credit or debit card to a minimum wage worker in a store?

    Just use as much common sense as you do in the real world and you will be fine.

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    • Anonnet
      5 years ago

      Importance of the file doesn't matter, and I disagree that locally stored files are just as insecure as cloud storage. A few more hoops need to be jumped through to remotely access a computer even if it's online, while for most online storage users, all you need is an e-mail and a password.

      Offline storage also offers more benefits than just offline access. Files can be accessed and edited quicker than they could be if you were online. You also run into less compatibility issues with different file types, since your non-Chrome OS can probably run more things than Google Drive can.

      Comparing it to using your credit card at a store is a little strange as well. The dude behind the counter doesn't keep my card and I can clearly see what he's doing with it before he gives it back.

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      • nikkiclaire
        5 years ago

        Are you making an argument against chrome books or cloud computing security because they aren't the same topic.

        The point I am making with the analogy to a merchant, is that we often make a fuss about online security and then have no qualms about freely giving the information in public life. I'm betting most people give credit card info over the phone as well, where you have zero knowledge of what's done by the worker, until it's too late.

        I personally dislike the cloud too, but not because of security. I don't trust these companies not to go out of business or sell off to another company who has different ideas about ownership of digital property.

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        • Anonnet
          5 years ago

          I agree, I just think security is also part of it. A lot of people give out their private information on social media, for example, so I don't doubt that many people may not have a reason to care in that regard.

          That said, you don't have to be a member of the CIA to have files you don't want floating on the internet. I have some files that carry important personal information for example (numbers, lists, records, receipts, etc). Frankly, I don't even want the drive company to have access to all of that information at once.

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