Is your cloud drive really private?

Most everything in this article is common sense, assuming you understand what a cloud really is.  I'm not going to say I'm an expert on all things cloud but at the most basic level a cloud is a server that serves stuff.

For instance Steam has a cloud service that keeps your games up to date and will even backup your save files.  Google has several clouds and one of the biggest is the GMail service.  In exchange for hosting an email address they will serve you ads and try to make a couple bucks in the process.

The question is, how private is a cloud?

Some popular cloud storage providers sweep accounts looking for illegal data. Right now, the focus is on hunting for child pornography, but their terms of service allow for other kinds of files to be considered non grata as well.

"When users place their data with cloud computing services, they lose the ability to maintain complete control of that information," said Lillie Coney, associate director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC).

I have been telling people for years that when you upload your data "to the cloud" it is no longer your data, it is no longer private and is accessible to anyone on the cloud (Albeit, indirectly).

Related Web URL: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/your-c...