Mainstream cloud storage providers like Google Drive and iCloud have access to users' files, posing privacy and security risks.
Nextcloud is the preferred secure cloud storage option, but has drawbacks like the need for technical expertise to self-host and issues with end-to-end encryption.
Filen is a user-friendly secure cloud storage option, but has some concerns around encryption implementation.
Mega offers a large free storage plan, but has had past security issues and controversies.
Proton's secure cloud storage is part of their broader privacy-focused ecosystem, but has some app and feature inconsistencies.
Cryptomator is a useful tool to add an extra layer of encryption to any cloud storage service.
Apple's Advanced Data Protection is a proprietary solution that lacks transparency compared to open-source alternatives.
It's important to weigh the risks versus benefits when choosing a cloud storage provider based on the sensitivity of the data.
Switching to a more secure and privacy-focused cloud storage option is worthwhile, even for non-sensitive data.
The article encourages users to take steps to improve their cloud storage privacy and security, rather than relying on mainstream providers by default.
All storage is secure if you encrypt locally first (metadata notwithstanding). Of questionable utility for phone apps (happy to be corrected, some sort of FUSE type filesystem with cached filenames etc. could probably work), but great for offsite backups (preferably using multiple services) of critical data.
Wow, they recommend nextcloud which doesn't even support client- side encryption .
My recommendations are usually Tresorit, Mega, and Proton Drive. I dont know of any others that support sharing files with third parties that enforces client- side encryption on everything.
End-to-end Encryption client-side is available from Nextcloud desktop client 3.0 and newer as a folder-level option to keep extremely sensitive data fully secure even in case of a full server breach. The server facilitates key exchange for syncing between devices and sharing but has Zero Knowledge, that is, never has access to any of the data or keys in unencrypted form.
It's not a big deal if you self-host at home either. You can use SSL for the traffic and LUKS for the storage.
Again, i dont recommend nextcloud because it doesn't encrypt everything. Same for other cloud providers. I wouldn't use it unless everything is encrypted client-side and it cannot be turned off.
It is a big deal if you self host. If you server is owned, your data is compromised, because the server can read your data.