If you use #GoogleDrive, you are also allowing Google to do whatever they want with your files: they can read them, copy them, give them to anyone else, make derivative works, even publish them online without your permission (see attached screenshot). #DropBox is similar.
In other words, private files uploaded to Google Drive are no longer private.
You might want to try #privacy aware #NextCloud instead, which actually lets you control who gets to see/use your stuff:
https://switching.social/ethical-alternatives-to-dropbox-google-drive-and-google-docs/
@switchingsocial Where is the evidence that #dropbox can post your stuff online, please?
@johnribbon @switchingsocial Yes please, a cursory read of their ToS and PP did not allow me to find such evidence.
Dropbox's terms of service are very vague. Perhaps they are trying to make them easier to read, but the effect is to obscure what they say.
However, they do seem to suggest that they can share your files with whoever they want (first attachment) and the original wording for these terms was almost identical to Google Drive's (second attachment).
Basic problem is Google/Dropbox have aggressive and expensive legal teams protecting their interests, while customers don't.
@switchingsocial @johnribbon The requirements for plain English phrasing does not prevent them from being accurate. Vague and "relaxed" wording is typical in T&C coming from US or UK.
@yac @switchingsocial As far as I know, "vagueness" will not stand up under the GDPR. The 🇪🇺 set out specifically to target this practice.
@johnribbon @switchingsocial I concur. In practice, their T&C will stand as they are for a while. In the meantime, do I trust them to store all my docs and pics? Hell no.
@yac @switchingsocial They must have something better already, otherwise, as I understand it, they can be done for up to 4% of global revenues... but maybe not.
Who else is doing the same thing with better terms do you know? Need web, app and integration with encfs encryption apps...
The example I gave of Nextcloud offers the same thing (web, app, encryption) but gives the user control. Nextcloud is used by many companies, the German federal government just started using it.
Here's a bit more about encryption on nextcloud: https://nextcloud.com/blog/encryption-in-nextcloud/
There are also other independent cloud services like Owncloud (which Nextcloud sprang from), but I picked nextcloud as it's well-supported and easy to use.
@switchingsocial @yac Seems to be a self-hosted, serverside encryption technology. I'd prefer cloud, so I don't have to maintain anything, and clientside encryption, so I don't have to worry about the server.
In a way, I'm not trusting Dropbox at all anyway, since data is encrypted locally with encfs. I *am* trusting them with my photos, but that's because they give useful features for photos that I would want in any substitute service. So I'm not 100% happy either way.
You don't have to self-host, there are managed options for Nextcloud that let people sign up online like they would on Google Drive (as linked on the switching.social page). Once you've got a Nextcloud account somewhere, you can use the Nextcloud app to upload stuff to the account. A lot of people use it to store photos from their phones.
There are photo features within Nextcloud (platform also has an app store) but I don't know if the features match what you use on Dropbox?
@johnribbon @switchingsocial Keep in mind that "cloud" or "serverless" means someone else's server. So in the end, do you trust the people on the other end?
It's hard to beat the convenience of Google or Dropbox, if not impossible. There's a reason why they're "free" or "cheap". I haven't moved away from them yet *sigh*.
Crazy that we have to ask ourselves those questions in the first place. It's messed up, somehow.
I switched from Google Drive to Nextcloud and found Nextcloud to be just as convenient and easy to use. You don't have to self-host to use it.
On the question of trusting people, if you find out your open source provider has been up to no good you can switch to another one with exactly the same software (or even set one up yourself).
Google and Dropbox do not have this kind of direct competition, so they have less incentive to respect their customers.
@switchingsocial @yac OK, but I have heard no solution to my main issue, which is providing client side encfs encryption. This is what I want so I don't have to trust any server or the company who runs it (much). There are such apps for Google and Dropbox, at least.
If such were available for Nextcloud I would probably jump.
I don't know if this is exactly what you mean, but the Nextcloud client includes client side end-to-end encryption:
@johnribbon clients = Desktop, iOS and Android apps
@switchingsocial @yac Thanks, I'll check it out. But I feel that support for a client side encfs apps, like Encdroid, might be a deal breaker. (Want to kick Google at some point as well, probably before Dropbox.)