Like it or not, you are already a cloud consumer. The services being offered through the cloud are growing exponentially – from using email (gmail) for communications, to interacting with family, friends, and colleagues through social media (facebook, twitter, and linkedin). Online cloud storage services (dropbox, g-drive, cloud drive) offer you a chance to store all your documents online nullifying the risk of losing them and making them accessible from anywhere in the world. Both Google and Apple provide automated backup of your data to the cloud from pictures you take through your phone to the emails you send. It is a great time to be a cloud consumer but this convenience comes at a cost.
With all this data being stored online the fundamental question that we ask is who owns the personal information once it is uploaded to the ether? Does the cloud service provider have any rights to this data?
Terms of service stated by Facebook and Google recognize the ultimate ownership of data by the consumer:
Facebook: “You own all of the content and information you post on Facebook, and you can control how it is shared through your privacy and application settings.”
Google: “Google does not claim any ownership in any of the content, including any text, data, information, images, photographs, music, sound, video, or other material, that you upload, transmit or store in your Gmail account. We will not use any of your content for any purpose except to provide you with the Service.”
On the face of it, this seems like a reasonable guarantee of privacy of your personal data. However, the fact remains that the privacy boundaries for these two giants and countless other cloud service providers have never been properly tested or explored.
The recent revelations of PRISM and the powers afforded through the Patriot Act nullify any false hope of security. When the former CIA Director and 4-star general of the US Army can be implicated through cyber investigations, what chance do all of us pawns have? While we may not be truly living in an Orwellian world, the fact remains that the Big Brother is watching and any attempts to escape will only arouse further scrutiny – case in point provided by the users of the TOR browser who became high priority targets for the NSA – full article here
Picard couldn’t resist! How can we?
So the question is, is there is any way to safeguard our privacy in the ever-changing and evolving landscape afforded by the cloud? Or is any resistance to this a futile attempt at a false sense of security?
While the escape from government maybe futile, the risks from rogue enterprises or institutions that can use your data for nefarious purposes can be countered
Ali S. Kamil 