Our Private Data

As Facebook users we accept the privacy policies when we sign on.  For the most part we don’t even read over the extensive policy pages.  Instead we set up our account and enter data related to our personal lives.  We understand in the process this information gets recorded and stored.

Take Action:

We recommend that you get a clear idea of how much and what kind of data Facebook collects on you.  Check out the “Data In” section of our previous article for directions on accessing the data Facebook has collected from you.

Facebook is a free service and we can expect that they make revenue by providing our data to advertisers.  What many of us are not aware of is that they pass on our data to third party developers and organizations.

This is why we can sign on to a new app or online service using our Facebook login.  Right away they can access our data so that it is easier for us to create a new account with the third party app rather than having to enter all the personal information they require once again.

But what kinds of control are in place once our data leaves the hands of Facebook?  What kind of regulations are there to protect our privacy and information?  This is what Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg has to address.

Facebook Updates

In the past Facebook has revised its privacy policies.  However, these previous revisions have been toward openness and sharing rather than protection of privacy.  Unfortunately, “…they were optimizing for profitability rather than security and privacy of their members” says David Kirkpatrick author of the Facebook Effect.[1]

Zuckerberg’s promise at the beginning of this year was to fix Facebook in 2018 – this is no small task.  In fact, he has stated that fixing the company’s problems will take years.

Presently, users are informing users in their News Feed if they’re among the millions of people whose data was improperly harvested by Cambridge Analytica.

Other changes we can expect in the near future: [2]

• Users will receive notice of all apps they use and what data is shared with those apps.  They then have a chance to delete apps they no longer want.
• Facebook will restrict access to certain data that applications can acquire.
• The option to search for users by entering a phone number or an email address will be removed.
• Facebook will set out to delete all logs after a year and only time of calls will be collected.
• New policy will also make users aware that WhatsApp and Instagram are part of Facebook and that the companies share information about users.  WhatsApp will still have a separate policy while Facebook and Instagram continue to share one.

Free

Whenever something is offered for free we need to ask: how is this business generating revenue?  Some companies offer a trial license for their software as a means to test drive the service.  Others rely on donation.

In the case of Facebook, it is free to users but there are associated costs.  Not only does Facebook sell data to advertisers who then place ads that are targeted to meet our purchasing preferences, they also harvests our data for app developers as well.

We need lawmakers to force these companies into the public spotlight and to enforce lawful conduct.

Regulation

Although Facebook is in the process of change and updates we need to ask: how is it possible to keep private data secure after it’s sold to third parties?  Facebook has admitted that it is impossible to monitor what these third parties do with the data once it is out of their hands.  However, Mark Zuckerberg has said that his industry should be regulated.

At present he is facing Congress and has delivered an apology and is answering questions.  But what will be the outcome of this?  What about past regulation?  Zuckerberg has stated they regularly testify before Congress on a number of topics.

In 2011, Facebook offered privacy assurances in a settlement with the FTC (Federal Trade Commission).  Allowing Cambridge Analytica to harvest data could be a violation of that settlement.  The ability to transfer the data of users’ friends should have been banned with the 2011 consent.  But what is the FTC going to do to enforce existing regulations?

Turning Up The Heat:

In 2016, the European Union passed the comprehensive General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR.  One mandate restricts collection of personal data of EU citizens to be only saved for “specific, explicit, and legitimate purposes” and only with user consent.

This means, consent cannot be buried in the terms and conditions.

This law will take effect in May and companies worldwide are paying attention.  It is expected that this will expose the industry like nothing else.  In preparation for this law, PayPal published a list of companies it might share your personal data with – over 600 companies.

 Best Practices – Privacy at Stake

There is no doubt that privacy of information is at stake.

It’s essential that we throttle back on what information we make available online and what data is stored on our PC.  Here are our recommendations.

1. 1. We recommend the privacy functionality associated with PC Cleaner. By using the available functionality you can see all the personal and private data you have on your PC which could be accessed by illegitimate means.

1. 1. When on a public Wi-Fi network, we highly recommend not sharing out any sensitive data. Even downloading records online from a public location or terminal can leave your data vulnerable to hacks.

1. If you decide to delete your Facebook account, consider the following:
   • You will need to sever all ties with Facebook including Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram. Your data can be shared with these apps and policies are similar or, as with Facebook and Instagram, shared.
   • Any apps that you “log in using Facebook“ will no longer work and you will have to enter your log in credentials for these.
   • Delete all Facebook instances from all devices including your mobile ones. Make sure you delete and not deactivate.  Use this link from Facebook.
   • Do not even attempt to log in to Facebook for at least two weeks or you will cancel the account deletion process.

Last Comment

We started out this two part series asking a question of what to do as a Facebook user.  Undoubtedly, the data breach has been the final straw for some and these users are choosing to delete.

Do we throw the baby out with the bath water?

We need to acknowledge that there are positive online developments, and we need to take an active role in shaping it.

With respect to the baby / bath water analogy – we certainly can agree the bath water is dirty!

As for the baby – in the case of social media technology – we need to closely examine if it’s being overfed.

“…the thing we need to understand now,” Shoshana Zuboff states, “is that the online world, which used to be our world, is now where capitalism is developing in new ways.”

[1] http://money.cnn.com/2018/04/09/technology/

[2] https://www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/

[3] https://www.schneier.com/

The post How to Protect Your Privacy & Identity on Facebook – Part 2 appeared first on CompuClever.

We’re going to start off with a brief description of the history of Facebook and its popularity.  From there we present a like and dislike feature set – thumbs up and thumbs down.  After that we will offer some general recommendations and alternatives.

First Look

On February 2004, Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook with his college roommates and fellow students at Harvard University.   At first it was limited to Harvard students, but expanded to include colleges in the Boston area and then gradually it included support for students at various other universities before being open to high-school students and then anyone aged 13 and over. When registering for a Facebook account, the user needs to claim being 13 years or older although proof of age is not a requirement.  A valid email is required however.  You can then proceed to create a “personal profile” – personal data and a profile image that identifies you to other users.

Once you are an active user you can begin to add “friends” who are also on Facebook and you can exchange messages. You also are able to join groups that you identify as sharing a common interest.  To date, Facebook has over one billion users although numbers are difficult to ascertain as some of these are considered fake.  We’ll cover that later in the article.  Suffice it to say:

With respect to its value, in January of this year its market capitalization rose to over $134 billion.  There are over 1.2 billion active users on the site every month and more than 75% of these are mobile device users.  As of February 3^rd, the company celebrated its tenth anniversary.

On Top or Losing Ground?

While Facebook is the top social network at present, one study^[2] has shown that teenagers are making the move to other social networking services.  While older users continue to saturate Facebook, younger users are making a shift.  This younger age group is not so concerned about whether the alternative services are on par or better, and they are not concerned about whether their personal information is being used commercially or as part of surveillance practices.  It would appear that the biggest motive is that youth of this age group are getting friend requests from their parents and are looking for more freedom to express themselves.

However, for those over 18 in the U.S., Facebook remains the king of social networking.  It is reported^[3] that 71% of adults in the U.S. are using Facebook and among those that only use one networking site, 84% are choosing it as their sole social network.

Thumbs Up

With that many people onboard it’s got to be a good thing right?  Well let’s point out some of the positive aspects of social networking and Facebook.

Connected:  While many of the posts and newsfeeds are full of items that are specific to one person and speak to what they are having for dinner or some sporting event they are attending, there are news feeds that relate to current events, personal health tips, and social injustices that may not be covered by news media.  This form of passing news stories is gaining acceptance as even mainstream media reports on the particular social news items that go “viral” in terms of being shared by many people worldwide. Many of these items are posted in an attempt to gather as much “likes” as possible and to simply be shared perhaps in an attempt to be noticed.

Regardless of the content, it is a way of being connected to what over a billion people find interesting.  Some of the news items may not even be covered by top media broadcasting corporations.  The fact is, Facebook is a way of connecting:

Another benefit to Facebook users is being able to reconnect with friends you might not have seen since your early high school days.  For some, this may not be such a desired feature depending on who sends you a friend request.  However, it does provide the ability to do a search for long time friends you may have lost touch with.

Rights and Responsibilities:  Facebook clearly points out the agreement between you and them in a Statement of Rights and Responsibilities.^[5] In this they state that your “privacy is very important” and they provide a link to the Data Use policy.  If you go down the rabbit hole you can get to the page: “Information we receive and how it used”.^[6] It is a long page of information but you can get a full description of the data that you make available to Facebook and how you can choose to adjust your settings so that it is shared by the public or shared only among friends or some customized filter.  The real issue for some people is this one item:

Two positive aspects can be stated here: for one, Facebook is very thorough in laying out these terms.  With some items such as safety, account security, and protection of other’s rights, Facebook points out that they cannot do it alone (for example, they cannot guarantee to keep Facebook safe).  They elicit the commitment of their users to not bully, to not post content that is hate speech, pornographic, or is violent.  They ask that upload material is free of multi-level marketing, viruses, and malicious code.  They also emphasize that you will not post other’s personal identification or sensitive financial data.  The list of these items is a lengthy one and, while there is some policing of what is displayed, to a large part the ethical participation of its users is required.  Secondly, these terms can, and have, been subject to change based on user feedback.

Creation of Groups:  Say you have a group of people you want to connect with – family, friends, a social group of some kind.  You can easily create a group and invite them to join.  Once everyone is all aboard you can have a central place to swap stories, post links, and share photos and video.  This is so much easier than trying to get messages to a group by email.  The down side… everyone needs a Facebook account and not everyone wants to join up for one reason or another.

With this in mind… we look at the aspects of Facebook that are not favorable.

Thumbs Down

There are a few items that stand out as being difficult to some people when signing on and getting tangled in the Facebook network and these need to be understood.

Backing out:  While there are a few hoops you have to jump through to get a Facebook account started, we find opting out to be even a greater challenge.  When you want to deactivate your account your profile and “Timeline” disappear and people will not be able to search for you.  However, there is some information that remains including messages you have sent and Facebook saves your information including friends, photos, interests, and the like.  They do this in case you change your mind and want to come back.  To permanently delete your account “with no option for recovery” you have to log in and contact them.  What users have found is that they need to manually delete the content that they have posted and shared.  As pointed out by Wikipedia^[7]:

Zeus:  A report last year^[8] pointed out how a somewhat nasty malware called Zeus, was being used from Facebook.  Zeus is a Trojan horse that stays dormant on your computer until you log into a bank site and then it steals passwords and empties the bank account.  Facebook was notified of this but according to the report their response was not sufficient.

Fake Accounts:  There are many reports about fraudulent Facebook accounts.^[9] In these situations, an imposter uses another person’s profile such as name, photo, and personal information in an attempt to access the victim’s friend list.  The reasons for doing this can include attempting to data mine you or even to attempt an emergency scam with your friends and family. For example, “This is Joanne. I’m in Cancun and I just got mugged and need some money sent to me right away”).  If this happens you need to report it to Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/help/167722253287296/) right away.

Fake Likes: One other area of criticism is how Facebook’s revenue is based on false likes.  There are those that may want to promote their Facebook page so that more people can view it.  Pages can be created by businesses or individual creators.  The creators of these pages post items and these posts can appear on other Facebook member’s news feed.  However, they can also be filtered out based on what you have previously disliked and liked.  This means that your posts that you create to share with your online community could be going out to only a small subsection of your overall friend’s network.  Posts about baby’s and weddings get the most likes and comments.  Facebook offers the option to pay for greater exposure but critics^[10] claim that these “likes” are coming from developing nations and there isn’t a real interest in the page.  While filtering is necessary so that you do not see 1500 posts each day, some suggest that the algorithm logic for this filtering does not provide diversity and a random selection of items.

The Rest of the List:  A list of criticisms is sited in Wikipedia, several of which have been from concerns raised in previous years of operation.  The list includes the following:

It would take considerable research and follow up to see what steps Facebook has undertaken to improve these issues.  As stated they do respond to feedback and we can only hope that they continue to do so.  Ongoing research looks to gain deeper insight into the social effects of Facebook.  From the same wiki page:

Ownership and Use of Content:  There have been many who have stated their disapproval of Facebook because what they believe to be a loss of ownership of data when posting or sharing.  It should be clear that Facebook states in their Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, that users retain ownership of posted content.  What needs to be clear is that users grant Facebook the following: “you grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any IP content that you post on or in connection with Facebook”.  This is why deletion of content is so important to those who want to delete their account and remove all personal information.

Alternatives

There are alternatives to Facebook.  Here is a short list (and we do mean short list – these networking sites pop up very frequently).

Keep in mind that alternatives to Facebook will take time to get used to if you are accustomed to Facebook.  Also, you may not get the same level of friends that you can connect with.  This is likely why there are those that are signed up on more than one.

The Final Chapter:

Social media tools such as Facebook offer such potential in terms of correspondence, staying informed, and participation in online community.  The challenge is to take part in shaping it as it evolves.  The information that is particular to each of us personally and to the members of our families needs to be regarded with reverence and handled with privacy.  We can shape these tools to meet our needs with ongoing feedback.

Considering the time and effort a person can dedicate to these and to staying connected to others via mobile devices… is it any wonder there is growing concern about levels of real, face-to-face social interaction?  Is it any wonder this is generating considerable research?  Is there any wonder that some people question how meaningful online friendships are when having up to, or over, 1000 friends is the norm?  And is it any wonder that there is some doubt as to how well we are able to function without the steady influx of digital information?  Likely the best we can do is to get onboard but to give ourselves real and meaningful breaks from the pull of networking on a massive scale.

We hope this article has helped gain some insight about a rather all-encompassing and dichotomous subject.  We will continue to investigate these kinds of story lines that affect each of us on a daily basis in a manner that is within reach of everyday computer users.  If you have some ideas of topics you would like us to cover, email us at: newsletter@compuclever.com

The post Facebook Uncovered appeared first on CompuClever.

Making a Decision That Works for You:

Before you begin using a cloud storage provider, it is best to consider the determining factors.  Here are a few of the items to consider.

Cost:  Many storage providers will offer an entry level for free.  You can then upgrade to a larger storage package based on various levels of cost.  Some subscription levels will also get you very large amounts of storage or even unlimited storage and perhaps more functionality (as would be the case if you want an enterprise subscription).  For entry level users we suggest free.  When you compare you will want to pay close attention to whether it is a monthly or annual payment plan.

Storage Size:  If you are going to be using cloud storage for the purpose of sharing files and accessing files via mobile devices, you will not likely need a lot of space.  As most providers offer 2 to 5 GB of space for free this will likely work for you.  However, if you are considering backing up all your files or if you have a considerable amount of multi-media files to backup, you will need to take inventory of how much space you are currently using for these files.  If you have little experience about file size, we suggest you see the “Space It Out” section below to get an idea of file space needs.

Access:  Most providers will work if you are using a Windows operating system or Mac.  If you are using Linux then you will want to pay closer attention to what options are available.  This is also true if you want to access your files from a mobile device such as from Android, Blackberry, or iOS.  Dropbox for instance supports all of these platforms.

Sharing, Backup, or Both:  This factor relates to the prime reason for using online storage.  If you want to share files easily then the most basic levels of cloud storage will work for you (that is, something free with 2 to 5 GB of storage).  If you decide that this form of online storage meets your needs, then you would want more storage and begin looking for a payment plan that works for you.

Recommendations:

We do not have any affiliation to the companies we recommend nor do we benefit from our recommendations. We feel free to pass on our experiences when the use of a given solution is considerably beneficial.  Our recommendations with respect to cloud storage use:

The Solution:

Now that we have made some recommendations on cloud storage use, we can proceed in helping you get started by by answering some basic questions and coming up with a cloud storage provider that is safe and meets the requirements.

Free:  We like free.  However it is best to check out what exactly free is.  Some companies are able to provide free services through the use of advertisements.  Most frequently the provider will charge you once you have exceeded the storage capacity.  These companies also stand to profit by converting you to a paid level of subscription usually through a monthly fee.  As we have stated in our newsletter article, free is not always free.  We see constant prompts to purchase as incurring a cost.  This is called “nagware” and is very annoying to contend with.  We advise looking closely at the storage solution and examining what they consider to be free.  You can check customer reviews for an indication of nagware as you will not see it coming beforehand.  Free should also be without any time restrictions.

Space it Out:  For you to determine how much space you need you will have to assess what kinds of files you want to store in the cloud.  There are several types of file types with varying sizes.  So how many files can you store with 2 Giga Bytes (GB) of space?  The answer… it depends (of course).  Here is a way of thinking about it:

Multi-platform:  We prefer to have a system whereby it does not matter if you access files via your PC, a Mac, or a mobile device.  The other consideration is some providers (like Google Docs), have a web client interface where multiple users can edit a file.  However, once you attempt to use this file with your computer software you have formatting issues.  In effect it becomes only a working file.

The Choice – Dropbox:  Given that the other options are likely similar between these providers (web interfacing and integration with Windows Explorer), we recommend Dropbox.  It offers 2 GB of free space with no time restrictions or nags, you can get more storage for free (as we outline below),  it sets up very well with Windows Explorer, and it has very good cross platform support (for example, Windows, Mac OS X, iOS, and Android) so you can synchronize between computers and devices.

Get Started with DropBox:

We are going to outline how to get started, how to get more storage space while maintain the free entry level, how to interact with Windows Explorer, uploading and downloading via your web browser, and how you can recover files that you accidentally deleted.  To begin, you will need to first set up an account. Instruction 1 – Getting Started: Here are the steps to downloading and creating Dropbox:

When you are done, a Dropbox folder is created on your computer.

Instruction 2 – On Your Computer:
You now have Dropbox on your computer and you will be able to interact with the files there like any other folder with files.  Any time you want to interact with your Dropbox folder we suggest the following:

Right-click the Dropbox icon (the blue box shown below) located in the lower right of your system tray (bottom right area of your taskbar), and select Dropbox Folder.  Or, you can simply double-click the icon.

Your Dropbox folder opens up and you can interact with all the files there as you would if they were stored on your computer.  Simply drag and drop files to upload them.

Instruction 3 – Sharing: To share a file or folder you can simply locate it on your computer hard drive, right-click the item and select “Share Dropbox link”.  Dropbox provides you with two sub-folders to get you started: Public and Photos.  Let’s take a look at instructions on how to share photos as provided by Dropbox.   With the Dropbox photo galleries you can share photos with anyone including non-Dropbox users. These photos are available in a photo gallery that is viewable online.

You can easily share a folder by right-clicking and selecting “Share this folder”.  That’s it!  You can view this photo gallery online by going to: www.dropbox.com/photos.

Instruction 4 – Web Interfacing: You can go to someone else’s computer and access your files.  The way to do this is to open a web browser and go to Dropbox.com .  Log on using your account information.  You can now view your files, share them, or you can download or upload them.

Instruction 5 – Get Space: As mentioned, you begin with 2 GB of free space.  There is an incentive program available to increase your storage up to a maximum of 18 GB.  For example, if you refer a friend to Dropbox you earn 500 MB of space.  Taking a tour is a good idea.  You can learn about Dropbox and earn 250 MB of space.  For more information on this see: Dropbox.com/getspace.

Instruction 6 – Recover a file: Dropbox uses a feature called “Packrat”.  Every change made in your Dropbox folder over a 30 day period is preserved.  If you accidentally delete, lose, or erase a file you can recover it using the Packrat feature.  Here’s how:

For more information on how to use Dropbox, go to: Dropbox.com/help.

The post Choosing an Online Storage Solution appeared first on CompuClever.

Data Loss:

As the creation of data on PC’s increases so too does the need for storage and for the chance of loss of data.  In a recent article we introduced basic information about your PC Hard Drive.  Having your PC turn off or crash can result in data loss.  This usually results in data loss from the time you last saved a document or an email that was open – not a great loss overall.  However, the most common cause of data loss is hardware failure.  According to one study [1] 40% of data loss incidents occur from hardware failure including power surges and hard drive failure. Human error accounts for 30% of data loss (accidental deletion of data and accidental hardware damage). Software corruption accounts for 13% of data loss incidents and computer viruses account for 6% of data loss occurrences.  Then there is theft of hardware which is especially prevalent with laptops accounting for 9% of data loss and hardware destruction (damage caused by floods, lightning and fire) account for 3% of all data loss.

One thing is for certain – all hard drives will eventually fail.  Data loss from hard drive failure is more common than expected.  Here are some related statistics:

Reasons for PC hard drive failure are varied.  Not only can it occur from manufacturer defects but the cause of failure can be exasperated as a result of how you operate your PC.  Examples include exposure to detrimental environmental conditions such as adverse temperature and humidity as well as workloads and powered-on patterns.  There are technologies available to keep your data safe.

The Technology:

Cloud storage is also known as “file hosting”, “online file storage”, and “cyberlocker”.  These terms refer to an Internet hosting service designed to host your data files.  The service includes enabling users to upload files to “the cloud” that can then be accessed over the internet from a different computer, tablet, smart phone or other networked device.  This data can be accessed by the same user or by other users once the required password or authentication is provided.  The reasons for using this kind of service are primarily for backup purposes, to share files with others, or to access the files from a range of devices.  An example would be to have online storage that you can view and interact with multimedia files without having to store the data on a device that has limited storage.

Cost:

As can be seen from a Wikipedia[5] description, there are a variety of storage charge options with cloud service providers.  Including the following:

See the section on “Free” below for what we consider “free” and what service offers you need to beware of.  Taking into consideration the value gained from using cloud storage with respect to the cost of the service is a crucial factor in making the decision to use cloud storage and to choose a provider that is right for you.

Security and Reliability:

Another equally critical factor in determining if the service provider is right for you is whether the data you are storing is safe.  You need to determine if the data is secure and if the provider is reliable.

Security:  This deals with the aspects of being able to access your data on a continual basis while only allowing others with the proper credentials to access the data.  Being certain that your provider uses some form of encryption is vital to the decision of cloud storage.  This means that your data encoded in some manner and digital signatures are required so that hackers cannot access the data.

Reliability:  You need to rely on having someone store your data and make it available for you.  Continual access of your data will depend on several factors including how good the storage providers physical systems are (they also use hard disk drives), as well as the stability of your provider as a company (a financially stable company that will continue operations).  In this way you need to feel assured that the organization you are choosing will stay around and not go “belly-up” any time soon.

The Downside:

There are some disadvantages to using cloud storage which need to be identified.  This includes the following:

1. You do not have direct control of your data.  While a cloud storage provider may even be more reliable and secure than your home PC system, you still have to rely on a third party to interact with your data.
2. You are at the mercy of the Internet and have to deal with connectivity, bandwidth, and potential outages.  This can have an impact on performance.
3. When you save your files online you transfer them to the storage service.  This involves uploading data and it is slower than downloading files.  Large files and numerous files can result in slowing down your computer.

However, despite these disadvantages, if you are interested in the benefits of cloud storage including sharing your files with others, accessing your files from many different devices, and benefiting from having your files stored on a system that is less vulnerable than what your home PC system in terms of theft, damage, or loss… then you will want to know the top contenders.

The Contenders:

There are numerous storage providers available and making an informed choice is not easy.  In this article we examine four “top contenders” – the providers what we deem reputable and provide a good service.  We will examine: Box, Google Drive, Microsoft SkyDrive,  and Dropbox.  Each of these has web browser interfacing.

Box:

While Box looks similar to other services (such as Dropbox), and while it has some of the same basic features it lacks a desktop client in the free version.   The mobile client displays a list of files and folders and a history of changes.  After uploading multimedia from your cell phone you can send them to box.com and share to email or Skype.

Google Drive:

Google Drive is offered by Google.  Google has multiple redundant storage facilities to ensure reliability.  There are applications that are native to Google – such as Google Docs – for Windows and Mac but there is no Linux native client but this is expected to be supported.  It does have Insync and native clients for Apple iOS, Android, and a web based interface for universal access.  There are those that consider the Google online suite to be advantageous as you can view a Google doc in the browser and share and collaborate on it with a group of people.  It also has some good revision features and editing functionality including the ability to instant message others working on the file.  However, there are disadvantages.  The downside to using an online application in this manner is that formatting differences exist.  For example, you can create and share a Google document and then attempt to put the file into a Word doc.  The formatting will not line up and you are left doing a lot of work formatting.

Microsoft SkyDrive:

With respect to access, SkyDrive includes Windows, Mac, web, and remote access.  Mobile options include iPhone, iPad, Windows Phone, Android, and Mobile web.  You can collaborate with others on files as it includes online editing and version tracking.  There are also a variety of image showcase options such as online slide shows, posting to Facebook and Twitter, captions, and geotags.

Dropbox:

Drop Box supports web interfacing as well as having generic clients for Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems and includes native client support for Android, Blackberry, and iOS.  This integration across platforms has given Dropbox a considerable competitive advantage over other providers.  The dropbox.com mobile app is fun to use as it has a modern look and fancy graphics.  Dropbox also has a very good recovery feature in case you need to recover accidentally deleted files. In terms of security, Dropbox uses modern encryption methods for transfer and storage of data – Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and AES-256 bit encryption.  They also use a two-step verification process at login.

In Common:  All four provides examined here have web interface functionality meaning you can upload and download files through your web browser.  To the best of our knowledge, all four also provide a client side application that integrates with the operating system.  For example, you can access the file using Windows Explorer as if they were local to your computer or device.

Free:

Free is free.  Free software is not “nagware” – nag the user with popup messages until their will is broken and they reluctantly buy the product.  Let’s look at the levels of free software as we experience them:

Our recommendation:

To begin, we feel that as a user first entering into the cloud storage world, baby steps are in order. Trying one or more of these services for free is a good way to start.  We also recommend that you do not rely solely on cloud storage as a means of backing up your data.  We would suggest instead that you use a combination of your PC, external hard drive, and online storage.  While it is true that all hard drives will eventually fail, it is a safe bet to have data on more than one device as simultaneous failure is very unlikely.  This way you will have the best of all worlds… being able to back up your important files, share any files via the cloud to others, access file on your own mobile devices, and feel secure in the knowledge that your data is safe from the most common forms of loss.

We do not recommend that all your data be backed up online until you feel more assured that this is the solution for you.  In which case, you will need to look at a whole new set of features such as how well the service interacts with Internet Explorer and how well it synchronizes your files.

For a free online cloud storage that offers good storage, has multi-platform support, offers a variety of access to devices, and is easy to use… we give Dropbox the nod.  The reasons include:

• It offers 2 GB of free space with no time restrictions or nags and you can get more storage using their incentive promotions.  This leaves the choice up to you as to whether you want to get more space if you feel you need it.
• It sets up very well with Windows Explorer in that you get the sense that the files are local to your computer and you can easily upload and download them.
• It has very good cross platform support so you can synchronize between computers and devices.
• It is easy to use, secure, reliable, and one of the least intrusive programs of its kind.

One More Recommendation:

Don’t just take our word for it – do some due diligence.  You need to feel that the service and the company you are dealing with can be trusted.  We suggest examining their website and finding out where they are located, what contact information they have, what support they offer.  These factors indicate stability and actual proof of existence.  We are of the opinion that it is still possible to have a relationship to vendors even if they are part of our digital world.  While there are many scam artists out there, we feel that the best way to profit in any industry is through long term established and trusting relations.

We hope this information has been helpful to you, our readers.  In our blog article we will provide some instruction on how begin using an online cloud storage such as Dropbox.  We have no affiliation with the vendors we recommend and do not profit in any way through our recommendation.  Our views here are based primarily on our experiences and we hope to pass these views forward.

Reference

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