The Rise of Cloud Storage and Dangers Involved
A heavily invested technology that is often left out of the media, cloud storage is seeing a boom following the increase in our data storage requirements. This technology essentially involves a company building and maintaining large server rooms where individual users can pay a fee to rent out some space and store their data there.
Companies are starting to usher users as well as businesses to utilize cloud storage instead of built-in storage on devices. In fact, they’re almost enforcing it. Microsoft’s Windows 11 now stores all of your default folders in OneDrive and automatically synchronizes your data with it. Apple has all your photos and downloaded files backed-up to iCloud. It’s instantaneous, it’s convenient, it’s often goes unnoticed.
But how far are companies going with this concept? Is local storage in danger? Back in the 2010’s, laptops with a terabyte of storage were commonplace. In fact, they regularly had removable storage to increase your storage capacity. However, today even the most high-end laptops don’t have over 512 GB. Average laptops may even provide a measly 256 GB. Now MacBooks don’t even have adequate USB ports and SD readers to expand your built-in storage. This is a strange trend, considering the fact that newer solid-state technology means laptops should be able to theoretically hold more data than their magnetic drive counterparts. Then why are they moving against the current and cutting down on the storage they provide?
One of the main reasons is physical space. Laptops are now becoming slimmer and smaller and therefore companies do not include much built-in storage in the first place. To handle the large amounts of user data, they instead focus on building better cloud storage systems. For instance, Microsoft’s Project Silica, which aims to build cloud storage using pieces of glass which can each hold 7 terabytes.
Just how far are we from a future where a majority of our data is not even ours? How far are we from a world where our devices are essentially just portals to cloud storage devices where all our stuff is stored?
Increased cloud storage for individuals also expresses an obvious safety concern. How much of your data is truly yours? In our society, advertising companies pay good money for user information. Is it okay to hand over all our personal info, photos and videos, documents, etc. to these companies?
And suppose we can trust them to not sell it, data breaches are a common occurrence. Statista reports that in 2023, over 353 million individuals were affected by data compromises in the United States, including breaches, leaks, and exposures. Although getting exact figures is difficult, the stats report:
A 2023 report by Apple states that over 80% of breaches involved data stored in the cloud.
A survey from Thales Group in 2023 found that 39% of businesses experienced a data breach in their cloud environment.
A 2024 report by Expert Insights suggests that 45% of breaches are cloud-based.
A survey from Thales Group in 2023 found that 39% of businesses experienced a data breach in their cloud environment.
A 2024 report by Expert Insights suggests that 45% of breaches are cloud-based.
A 2024 report by Expert Insights suggests that 45% of breaches are cloud-based.
Although the numbers vary, the one thing they have in common is that they are all concerning. Nowadays, most applications are also web based. Adobe Express (desktop publishing software), Microsoft Clipchamp (video editor), AutoCAD (design software) are common examples of web apps. How much do our devices depend on the internet? Without connection, even supposed “offline apps” do not work. These web-based apps obviously store your data with them as well.
Internet privacy is vanishing day by day. More and more of our data is being farmed and sold, more of our personal info is stored online vulnerably. It would we a calamity if we ended up with more and more cloud storage dependent devices. That is why we must be careful about just how much we rely on cloud storage and use local storage wherever as we can.
Governments should encourage laws to regulate security of cloud storage centres. Companies should stop increasing the reliance of cloud storage within desktop devices. Companies should provide the means for users to maintain their data locally and expand their storage however they wish.