Love Thine Cloud
Putting stuff in the cloud is nice and convenient; that is, if you don't mind having your privacy constantly put in jeopardy. There is, however, a way of having the best of both worlds …
Run your own cloud on Ubuntu
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gubh83, 123RF.com
There is a saying in Free Software circles that goes thus: "There is no cloud, just someone else's computer." I'm not sure who said it, but it has the simple, straightforward ring of something Richard Stallman would come up with.
The thing about clouds is that you have to trade an enormous amount of trust for just a slight increase in convenience. Think about it: Well-known cloud services are the constant object of attacks from hackers. How couldn't they be? They contain literally trillions of documents and snippets of information that can be used as leverage against innocent users.
Even if you are prudent, how sure are you that nothing in any of your stored texts, something in the background of your photos, or a carelessly worded message doesn't give away your bank account, your passwords, your home address, the location of your child's school? If you have a business and use a third-party cloud service, how sure are you your trade and technology secrets are safe? How sure are you your client data is being properly safeguarded?
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