Some Google Drive users are reporting losing six months of files

[TexasLawyer2000]

Originally Posted by heavymind

So many people think "the cloud" is infallible, and don't really comprehend that what they're doing is backing up their files onto someone else's computer. So much could go wrong. My files are mine and I keep as much as I can on local hard drives.

I use an Android phone and after using it for nearly two years was horrified to discover that every single photo I had ever taken was kindly archived for me on Google Photos, even after deleting them from the phone. I deleted everything and changed the setting to not upload to Google Photos, but I'm sure Google still has their backup of that lurking somewhere deep within their bowels.

That's the result of enabling the automatic Google Photos backup features (which is disabled by default)

[elnina]

Google posted a fix for this (lost files).

[stephenMM]

You should never, ever keep files on the cloud. Always back up onto your own aux HD, and back that up on another aux HD. Or else.

[macroy]

Originally Posted by stephenMM

You should never, ever keep files on the cloud. Always back up onto your own aux HD, and back that up on another aux HD. Or else.

never? care to elaborate on that general (and inaccurate) notion?

[Yelling_at_Birds]

To avoid becoming an internet serf, primarily. If you don't host it, then you don't own it.

When people say "the cloud", what do they mean exactly? Goolag Drive. Macrosuck Onedrive. AppHell Cloud. When one elects to store data in these systems, how is it paid for? You're not paying a subscription. This is because it is the data itself that is the commodity. Do you honestly think that Goolag, Macrosuck and AppHell are just providing these gratis "services" out of the good graces of their heart?

If one is going to be so foolish as to use these digital henhouses to store anything, at least encrypt one's files before uploading anything to FAANG infrastructure. But even then, one is still at the mercy of their benevolent FAANG landlords to not "Google Drive [sic] losing six months of files". Oops we memory hole'd your data, bro oh well lol

[akrausz]

Like leaving my house, cloud storage is not without potential risks, but:

Originally Posted by Yelling_at_Birds

To avoid becoming an internet serf, primarily. If you don't host it, then you don't own it.

Of course one does. I own plenty of things that I don't host. For example, I let my bank host my money.

Originally Posted by Yelling_at_Birds

When one elects to store data in these systems, how is it paid for? You're not paying a subscription.

Of course there are paid subscriptions. My free subscriptions got paid for when I upgraded.

Originally Posted by Yelling_at_Birds

...it is the data itself that is the commodity.

Of course they don't unencrypt user's files and sell the data. Good one though...I hadn't heard that one before.

[phetaroi]

Originally Posted by Yelling_at_Birds

To avoid becoming an internet serf, primarily. If you don't host it, then you don't own it.

When people say "the cloud", what do they mean exactly? Goolag Drive. Macrosuck Onedrive. AppHell Cloud. When one elects to store data in these systems, how is it paid for? You're not paying a subscription. This is because it is the data itself that is the commodity. Do you honestly think that Goolag, Macrosuck and AppHell are just providing these gratis "services" out of the good graces of their heart?

If one is going to be so foolish as to use these digital henhouses to store anything, at least encrypt one's files before uploading anything to FAANG infrastructure. But even then, one is still at the mercy of their benevolent FAANG landlords to not "Google Drive [sic] losing six months of files". Oops we memory hole'd your data, bro oh well lol

This post is a little bit...well, shall we say 'over the top'.