Everyone is well aware of Google and Apple today. No doubt, both are acknowledged as the best and safest cloud platforms to keep your files secure. Especially for Google, we see security as its main feature, and this concept has resulted primarily from years of trust and experience in services like Gmail and other facilities provided by Google. On the other hand, the same case is for cloud Apple. With the announcement of Apple storing all its user files and photos in Google cloud, it, in turn, added in the responsibility of Google.
How does Cloud work?
When you save any file in your pc or laptop, it gets saved in a folder, and you can quickly locate it in your hard drive. You may have several folders and subfolders created and organized by yourself, and all of them are saved only on your device. It’s solely up to you if you decide to share your data with someone else or secure it in any external device.
But what about cloud hosting? You can save your files to a cloud platform as a source of secondary storage. A server is one big computer providing data and services to other small networks. While a cloud is a system consisting of thousands of servers managed by companies, it gives the facility of accessing your data on any device. The only requirements are the internet connection and to be signed in to your account.
Google cloud privacy policy
Google acknowledges and ensures that any uploaded data is thoroughly checked, analyzed, and scanned to make sure further to “provide you personally relevant product features, such as customized search results, tailored advertising, and spam and malware detection.”
Google also holds “a worldwide license to use, host, store, reproduce, modify, create derivative works […], communicate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute” all your material either uploaded or secured through Google cloud platform. Even after you stop using their services, the authorization to use your information indirectly and explicitly remains. This is where the argument on the security of Google begins.
Why do people have concerns about Google security?
While Google clearly states that some programs and cloud services will enable you to “access and remove” the information uploaded, they are not clear in their terms and conditions about which services these can be.
Most importantly, the authorization to use your personal or public information also holds to “those we work with,” according to Google. These “we work with” are, undoubtedly, third parties, including social networking platforms, governments, or anyone else with whom Google may have connections. They do not even define the groups to which “we work with” refers.
Saving on the cloud means you are not securing your files at your home in your hard disk; instead, you are giving your details to another agency that would keep your information hundreds of miles away. Although given the option to access data whenever they want, people tend to have concerns with a security issue as it is something not out of their control.
How to use the cloud more safely?
Under the un-specifications provided by the Google cloud platform and its association with third parties, you may want to secure your files on your own before relying on any cloud platform. Ensuring the safety of your information is a simple matter if encrypting your data on your device before uploading it to cloud storage. In this way, Google will be unable to see your stuff and other information, which in turn will save your file from third parties too.
