What trade-offs are you making when using the cloud? Have you consciously evaluated these trade-offs? What is your justification?
Privacy. I have none.
Everything I do (more or less) is saved on the cloud. My phone backs up to the iCloud. I store the majority of my files on OneDrive instead of locally on my laptop. Quite honestly, I’m not sure what this means in terms of the security of my data. Right now, I don’t really have any information that I’m too worried about people accessing. If some cyber-thief wants to steal my reflection papers from my Introduction to Ireland class, my notes from Calc 2, or even my photos from Stanford Formal last weekend, they can go right ahead. Sure, it wouldn’t be ideal, but I honestly fail to see any life threatening consequences to anyone accessing my cloud data.
Therefore, even though I don’t know for certain who may gain access to my storage space on the cloud, I keep putting more and more in it. Why? Its easy. Cloud storage creates more room on my hardware for other things. It provides me with backups of my data, and easy access in case I want to log in from another device.
Is it ever worth it to manage your own private cloud services? Do you envision a future where you may use your own services rather than third party ones?
I do, however, understand that at some point in the future I may change my opinions on the matter. Maybe in a few years I’ll start storing some important, adult data, and want that to be secure. In this case, it may be worth it to manage my own private cloud service. The setup we did for this project, though slightly painful, would be worth it if it meant knowing that my data was secure.
With the amount that I currently use cloud storage, I think it is incredibly likely that I will use my own services in the future. Having control over the cloud would mean I could feel more comfortable knowing who has access to my data. Additionally, I wouldn’t have to worry about incomplete backups/ losing data (or maybe I would, but at least it would be my own fault).
Do you have the moral standing to complain about encroachment on your privacy when you consciously give away your information to third party services?
In a word, yes. I believe that these third party services should be held to high standards and follow through on their promises. If they claim to host secure cloud servers, and I purchase their product, I have every right to expect my data to be secured. Obviously, customers need to understand that there is no 100% guarantee. Products malfunction all the time, that is part of the risk of any purchase. However, that responsibility should still primarily lie with the producer. A company should understand when they take on a project such as cloud storage that they will need to account for a number of potential hacks and security breeches. It is their responsibility to make sure their service is secure before they label it as such and allow customers to use it.
Programmer's Paradox 