[liberationtech] Secure alternatives to Dropbox?

[Kyle Maxwell]

On Wed, Aug 14, 2013 at 4:01 PM, Web Admin <webadmin at cpj.org> wrote:
> With all the breaches that services like Dropbox have, some peopl suggest
> that creating your own cloud storage system is a way to avoid al that.
> I've heard of  PogoPlug (https://pogoplug.com), which you can use to store
> all your data on an external hard drive and access it via a eb interface
> or see the drive as another volume on your computer. I've alsoread about
> OwnCloud (http://owncloud.org), which lets you install open souce
> software on a web server of your choice.

So there are a few considerations here, because (in theory) moving to
a "personal cloud" should sound like a great idea. Projects like
arkOS[0] explicitly have this goal in mind.

Generally speaking, you have to consider the threat model: if you're
only thinking about subpoenas and warrants, then certainly it gets you
out of the situation of having an intermediary third party. But now
you have a whole additional host of problems: system administration
(patching, provisioning users if any, etc.), network neutrality[1],
and general network security. Additionally, if for some reason the
authorities want to serve a search warrant and you're hosting at home,
then they will sometimes confiscate *all* electronic media on-premise,
whether due to an overly broad warrant or an excessively enthusiastic
agent.

Yes, keeping your data, particularly the data you want to keep private
and secure, off of somebody else's device is useful in many
situations. But it's certainly not a no-brainer in all situations and
requires a careful understanding of your adversary's as well as your
own capabilities.

[0]: https://arkos.io/
[1]: As one recent example, see
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/08/google-fiber-continues-awful-isp-tradition-banning-servers
which is not unusual at all, unfortunately.

-- 
@kylemaxwell