You own your cloud data. But…

You own your data, but you are also responsible for it

No matter what kind of cloud environment you choose (free or paid, public or private) you remain the owner of this data. To the point that you are responsible for it!

In other words, it is up to you to safeguard the data. Cloud providers will deliver the service to keep your data but their part of the agreement does not usually include the obligation to recover your data in case of a problem (accident or malware) unless your contract stipulates otherwise. In most cases, your data will be kept for a certain period of time (which varies depending on the provider). In accordance with what your data contains and how you use it, you should make sure to implement a solution that will secure and recover this information if a problem occurs.

You’re at home in the cloud… but there are a few buts.

If you’re not paying for the cloud, your data is the product

If it sounds too good to be true, it is. For instance, if the cloud application you use to store photos or change your file extensions is free, you and your information are probably that company’s source of income! It’s important to read the fine print (not many people do) when it comes to the terms of use. It might include a section that states that your personal information will be used for marketing campaigns or that you relinquish the rights to your audio, photo, or video content and that they may be reproduced at any time. Free cloud applications come with limited functions and are rarely used for professional purposes.

Even the American government could gain access to your data

If you deal with an American cloud supplier, the American government may have the right to take a peek at your data thanks to the CLOUD Act. Even if your data is stored in servers on Canadian ground. The odds of that happening are not great, and American authorities will only look into your cloud data if they believe threats have been made. Despite this, if this is a cause for concern, you should deal with a 100% Canadian cloud provider. A cloud provider like R2i.

If you want to extract your data from the Cloud, you might have to pay up

Do you find the idea of paying to recover what is essentially yours infuriating? Some cloud providers offer data storage at a low price but make it 10 times more expensive for you to download or remove your data from their cloud! If you often need to recover your data, you should obviously keep this in mind. At R2i, we bill our clients only for the data they deposit. You’re then free to do with it as you please.

Do you have questions or concerns about the cloud? Get in touch with us today.