Cloud Storage... free access by US Authorities

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  • cnbcwatchercnbcwatcher Posts: 56,681
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    John146 wrote: »
    I am going to do what cnbcwatcher suggests and keep them at home on an external drive.

    Wise decision. I have two external hard drives for my stuff. One is my old Windows formatted one and the other is my Mac one. I needed the Mac formatted one because my PC one could be read by the Mac but I couldn't write to it.
    TheBigM wrote: »
    It's worth pointing out that for UK users, Microsoft keep our data in their Dublin datacentre so it is in EU jurisdiction and protection rather than in the US.

    What about Apple?
  • whoever,heywhoever,hey Posts: 30,992
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    Now i dont currently backup everything online, ie offsite. So i am a bad example of this but what if you have a house fire?

    I back up onto multiple physical devices, finally on 2 NAS.

    But it aint perfect.
  • emptyboxemptybox Posts: 13,917
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    I've got my business files backed up in the cloud. Encrypted of course..

    My thinking for that is if the house burnt down or all the computers were stolen, at least I'd be able to carry on my business.
  • whoever,heywhoever,hey Posts: 30,992
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    Yeah, i need to sort out encrypted online. I did find a service that worked on my NAS but i was uneasy about its security.
  • d'@ved'@ve Posts: 45,452
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    tealady wrote: »
    Though that might attract interest and may be decrypted.
    They probably have better things to do than trying to crack random encrypted files on fishing expeditions.

    Strong passwords will usually see them off (20+ characters etc. using all the characters on the keyboard). 20 ought to be plenty if you are random enough with your password characters but I'm a bit paranoid so it wouldn't be enough for me.
    christwo wrote: »
    Thanks for the suggestions for encryption methods, will check out later

    I tend to use 7-zip which is nice and easy and you can split big files into chunks to beat any file size limits, but if it really mattered, I might use something like Truecrypt and dual algorithms, but it's not that important. I just hate snoopers.
  • neo_walesneo_wales Posts: 13,625
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    Thankfully I'm not paranoid (like some DS members) and really don't think 'THEY' will be going through anything I've stored online or that it would be of interest if they did.

    Just don't rely on cloud storage only.
  • MaxatoriaMaxatoria Posts: 17,980
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    If the American spooks wanted to they'd just ring up the British police and ask them to get the password as you can get jail time for not revealing the password
  • paulj48paulj48 Posts: 1,122
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    Maxatoria wrote: »
    If the American spooks wanted to they'd just ring up the British police and ask them to get the password as you can get jail time for not revealing the password

    If you use Truecrypt you can have 2 passwords for the same encrypted volume, a password to de-encrypt your files and a dummy password that will de-encrypt some dummy data (or whatever you want to put in there)

    There is no way of knowing there are 2 passwords or that there are 2 sets of data.
  • christwochristwo Posts: 534
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    d'@ve wrote: »
    They probably have better things to do than trying to crack random encrypted files on fishing expeditions.

    Strong passwords will usually see them off (20+ characters etc. using all the characters on the keyboard). 20 ought to be plenty if you are random enough with your password characters but I'm a bit paranoid so it wouldn't be enough for me.



    I tend to use 7-zip which is nice and easy and you can split big files into chunks to beat any file size limits, but if it really mattered, I might use something like Truecrypt and dual algorithms, but it's not that important. I just hate snoopers.

    As 7 zip was already on my PC decided to go down the same route, mind I only have a few files that need protection, mind I am not sure anyone would be interested anyway. The key for me and the cloud is that stuff is backed up and available on both my machines and in in sync.
  • BrokenArrowBrokenArrow Posts: 21,665
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    JeffG1 wrote: »
    I think you misunderstand how Kindle works. How does Amazon know which books you have bought if that information is not stored remotely? You can delete local copies of books you have bought and redownload them to any number of your devices.

    Also, how can you sync books you have on more than one device unless the information on how far you have read is not stored remotely?

    I have a Kindle and the Kindle app on two tablets (Nexus 7 and Xoom) and my phone. If I am reading a book in bed one evening on my Kindle, I can pick up where I left off on my phone the next day if I'm out and have to kill some time.

    What are you talking about?

    Turn wifi on
    Download Book
    Turn Wifi off
    Read Book

    Simple.
  • MaxatoriaMaxatoria Posts: 17,980
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    paulj48 wrote: »
    If you use Truecrypt you can have 2 passwords for the same encrypted volume, a password to de-encrypt your files and a dummy password that will de-encrypt some dummy data (or whatever you want to put in there)

    There is no way of knowing there are 2 passwords or that there are 2 sets of data.

    The size would be a give away as a 1gb file with only 150mb of dummy data would immediately get me asking wheres the rest
  • paulj48paulj48 Posts: 1,122
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    Maxatoria wrote: »
    The size would be a give away as a 1gb file with only 150mb of dummy data would immediately get me asking wheres the rest

    Not really as Truecrypt creates an encrypted volume of a certain size choosen by the user irrespective of whats contained in there, thats the way it's supposed to work.
  • JeffG1JeffG1 Posts: 15,243
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    What are you talking about?

    Turn wifi on
    Download Book
    Turn Wifi off
    Read Book

    Simple.
    I know perfectly well what I am talking about. I suggest you read my post again and try to understand. How on earth is turning your WiFi off going to change what is held on Amazon's servers?

    You download a copy of the book which you can do time and time again, because Amazon have a record of what you have bought. There is no need to be rude when someone is trying to help. :mad:

    Edit: well, in one sense, turning your WiFi off does affect what is held on their servers, since your Kindle will not upload how far you have read in the book. As long as you never turn your WiFi on again, of course.
  • flagpoleflagpole Posts: 44,641
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    What's terrifying is how many phones - all of them - back up automatically to US servers.
  • tealadytealady Posts: 26,262
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    What are you talking about?

    Turn wifi on
    Download Book
    Turn Wifi off
    Read Book

    Simple.
    http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=hp_kin_land_pop_4?nodeId=200487840
    Login to your kindle account and look at what is there. try sending a book already on the kindle to your pc.

    Suppose the kindle is lost/damaged/needs replacement. Do you think then that you need to repurchase all the books?
    http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=hp_rel_topic?ie=UTF8&nodeId=200487980 All Kindle content that you've purchased from the Kindle Store is stored in your Kindle library on Amazon.co.uk
  • JeffG1JeffG1 Posts: 15,243
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    Tealady - you are being far too helpful to this rude person. ;)
  • BrokenArrowBrokenArrow Posts: 21,665
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    JeffG1 wrote: »
    I know perfectly well what I am talking about. I suggest you read my post again and try to understand. How on earth is turning your WiFi off going to change what is held on Amazon's servers?

    You download a copy of the book which you can do time and time again, because Amazon have a record of what you have bought. There is no need to be rude when someone is trying to help. :mad:

    Edit: well, in one sense, turning your WiFi off does affect what is held on their servers, since your Kindle will not upload how far you have read in the book. As long as you never turn your WiFi on again, of course.

    Tesco has a record of what I bought at their shop, it doesn't require cloud storage for that.

    Personally, I would do everything I could to stop any business holding any information about me.

    It sounds like Kindle is the worse E-reader to buy.
  • tealadytealady Posts: 26,262
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    Tesco has a record of what I bought at their shop, it doesn't require cloud storage for that.
    It will do if their IT strategy is based around hosted services for disaster recovery reasons or for economic reasons.
  • LumstormLumstorm Posts: 447
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    If you think that cloud services are the greatest thing and you have nothing to fear from them just look at what happened to Mat Honan. http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/08/apple-amazon-mat-honan-hacking/
  • call100call100 Posts: 7,264
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    Like it or not, everything you do is stored somewhere. As far as on line data is concerned, if you really believe that the US, or anyone else for that matter, is looking at yours in particular, take it down.....The amount of data that is stored in the cloud is of unbelievable proportions. To think that anyone is actually looking at your mundane daily files is just an ego massage...
    they have systems that flag up 'indicators' that they may want to take a second look at, I doubt those 'indicators' remain constant. I'd hazard a guess though that Bognor Regis isn't one of them.
    To be honest, living in a nation that has allowed the proliferation of cctv and store cards, it's not worth the worry that they are looking at your files. There is nothing you can do about it as no Government will get rid of the facility to spy on it's citizens.....
    So it's smile..................or...........overthrow the Government (Probably an indicator there!) and.....oh forget it, if you do that you'll end up spying on everyone anyway....:eek:
  • DotNetWillDotNetWill Posts: 4,564
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    tealady wrote: »
    Though that might attract interest and may be decrypted.

    Truecrypt volume encrypted with AES and a strong password and it's not getting decrypted.
  • DotNetWillDotNetWill Posts: 4,564
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    Maxatoria wrote: »
    If the American spooks wanted to they'd just ring up the British police and ask them to get the password as you can get jail time for not revealing the password

    I'm pretty sure that's possible. You're perfectly with in rights to withhold information that will incriminate yourself. Right to remain silent and that crap.
  • Matt DMatt D Posts: 13,153
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    DotNetWill wrote: »
    I'm pretty sure that's possible. You're perfectly with in rights to withhold information that will incriminate yourself. Right to remain silent and that crap.

    Withholding a password (or other cryptographic key) is an offence in the UK under RIPA.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulation_of_Investigatory_Powers_Act_2000

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_disclosure_law#United_Kingdom
  • DotNetWillDotNetWill Posts: 4,564
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    Matt D wrote: »

    Completely ridiculous :/

    But then I suppose it's choosing between two punishments.

    Seriously though, why aren't more people and civil liberty groups up in arms about this. If, and it's a big IF, we ever had a fascist state this could be used to attack opposition
  • d'@ved'@ve Posts: 45,452
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    DotNetWill wrote: »
    Completely ridiculous :/

    But then I suppose it's choosing between two punishments.

    Seriously though, why aren't more people and civil liberty groups up in arms about this. If, and it's a big IF, we ever had a fascist state this could be used to attack opposition

    If we ever had a fascist state, I think the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act would be the least of our worries! :eek:
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