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Er, do you have a recommendation for non-cloud services that provide me with automatic backups of everything I do if something happens to my apartment, or open-

by geofft 5y ago

Er, do you have a recommendation for non-cloud services that provide me with automatic backups of everything I do if something happens to my apartment, or open-source services that are free of all security flaws allowing hackers to compromise your privacy? Like I wholeheartedly get where you're coming from, but I'm not sure what realistic alternatives look like.

endisneigh 5y ago
Use a photo client on an android phone, encrypt the photos and use NextCloud (self-hosted). Make sure your certificates are up-to-date. Reverse this process on another client to see the photos.
- geofft 5y ago
  What sort of Android? Normal Google-provided Android, which contains closed-source components? Or do you have an open-source alternative in mind? Where do I self-host NextCloud?
  - endisneigh 5y ago
    you can self-host NextCloud on your laptop or desktop. you can use whichever flavor of Android you'd like - a lot of people like GrapheneOS
    - jjulius 5y ago
      So, lemme preface this by saying I also use my own NAS at home and wholly support your push for self-hosting. That said, I'm gonna play devil's advocate here, because this is an area I admittedly haven't put much thought into. GP said: >... non-cloud services that provide me with automatic backups of everything I do if something happens to my apartment... And my first concern is that a laptop or desktop (or my NAS) won't fare well if an apartment is broken into and the devices are stolen, or they get severely damaged in a natural disaster. What might a good mitigation be for that that doesn't involve spinning up a VPS via DO, etc.?
      - endisneigh 5y ago
        > And my first concern is that a laptop or desktop (or my NAS) won't fare well if an apartment is broken into and the devices are stolen, or they get severely damaged in a natural disaster. What might a good mitigation be for that that doesn't involve spinning up a VPS via DO, etc.? occasional offsite backups of all of your data
      - octopoc 5y ago
        How about whole disk encryption with Duplicati backing up to Sia[1]? This will let you do automatic backups to a decentralized version of S3 where you pay cryptocurrency (Siacoin) for the storage. That way here's what you need to protect: - Your whole-disk encryption keys / passwords - Your Sia key - Your password for Duplicati backups [1] https://duplicati.readthedocs.io/en/latest/05-storage-providers/#sia-decentralized-cloud https://duplicati.readthedocs.io/en/latest/05-storage-provid...
- busymom0 5y ago
  Unfortunately since iOS doesn't allow changing default Camera app, using a third party photo client is not that easy.
nonbirithm 5y ago
What I wouldn't recommend is using a cloud service like Flickr if you value the integrity of your data. Recently they charged me with a "Community Guideline Warning" because I accidentally included a folder filled with non-photo images, and threatened to delete my account within three days. There is no way to appeal or know which content is specifically in violation. All they left was a curt, automated email. You can request all your data from Flickr to save everything, but they state that the process can take up to several weeks before you're given a download link, longer than the three days it takes for them to arbitrarily terminate your account. Even with services like MEGA that tout keywords like "encryption" and "privacy" without end, look at their Terms of Service and there will be a clause stating that they will still give all your data to any law enforcement agency that puts in a request, including encrypted files. And they have no choice but to do so, because of the very same issue that's forcing the personal privacy debate with Apple into the spotlight - hosting any kind of illegal data, which is for all intents and purposes synonymous with CSAM, makes your service criminally liable in dozens of different jurisdictions. A public cloud provider that allows arbitrary file uploads and has absolute privacy cannot exist because of the necessity to allow law enforcement to investigate reports of the illegal hosting of CSAM in dozens of different countries. Any expectation of privacy is a facade when dealing with the cloud. Even beyond the issue of privacy, you're still at the whims of the cloud provider in the end. Fail to play by their rules, and you're done for.
gpm 5y ago
Since we're on HN. Use something like restic and a cron job backing up to something like blackblaze. Yes, it's the cloud, but they don't control the backup software (it's open source, not developed by them, using public APIs) or the encryption keys (protected by a passphrase client side, use a good one). There may be less programmery equivalents of that, which have scheduling built into the backup tool and so on. Just recommending what I've used. (This advice applies to general purpose computers, not sure if there's an equivalent for android or iOS)
fgygjifdscg 5y ago
Synology has a phone app that automatically backs up your photos. Then a pointy clicky setup to backup your backups to Glacier

by geofft 5y ago

endisneigh 5y ago

Use a photo client on an android phone, encrypt the photos and use NextCloud (self-hosted). Make sure your certificates are up-to-date. Reverse this process on another client to see the photos.

geofft 5y ago
What sort of Android? Normal Google-provided Android, which contains closed-source components? Or do you have an open-source alternative in mind? Where do I self-host NextCloud?
- endisneigh 5y ago
  you can self-host NextCloud on your laptop or desktop. you can use whichever flavor of Android you'd like - a lot of people like GrapheneOS
  - jjulius 5y ago
    So, lemme preface this by saying I also use my own NAS at home and wholly support your push for self-hosting. That said, I'm gonna play devil's advocate here, because this is an area I admittedly haven't put much thought into. GP said: >... non-cloud services that provide me with automatic backups of everything I do if something happens to my apartment... And my first concern is that a laptop or desktop (or my NAS) won't fare well if an apartment is broken into and the devices are stolen, or they get severely damaged in a natural disaster. What might a good mitigation be for that that doesn't involve spinning up a VPS via DO, etc.?
    - endisneigh 5y ago
      > And my first concern is that a laptop or desktop (or my NAS) won't fare well if an apartment is broken into and the devices are stolen, or they get severely damaged in a natural disaster. What might a good mitigation be for that that doesn't involve spinning up a VPS via DO, etc.? occasional offsite backups of all of your data
    - octopoc 5y ago
      How about whole disk encryption with Duplicati backing up to Sia[1]? This will let you do automatic backups to a decentralized version of S3 where you pay cryptocurrency (Siacoin) for the storage. That way here's what you need to protect: - Your whole-disk encryption keys / passwords - Your Sia key - Your password for Duplicati backups [1] https://duplicati.readthedocs.io/en/latest/05-storage-providers/#sia-decentralized-cloud https://duplicati.readthedocs.io/en/latest/05-storage-provid...
busymom0 5y ago
Unfortunately since iOS doesn't allow changing default Camera app, using a third party photo client is not that easy.

nonbirithm 5y ago

What I wouldn't recommend is using a cloud service like Flickr if you value the integrity of your data. Recently they charged me with a "Community Guideline Warning" because I accidentally included a folder filled with non-photo images, and threatened to delete my account within three days. There is no way to appeal or know which content is specifically in violation. All they left was a curt, automated email. You can request all your data from Flickr to save everything, but they state that the process can take up to several weeks before you're given a download link, longer than the three days it takes for them to arbitrarily terminate your account. Even with services like MEGA that tout keywords like "encryption" and "privacy" without end, look at their Terms of Service and there will be a clause stating that they will still give all your data to any law enforcement agency that puts in a request, including encrypted files. And they have no choice but to do so, because of the very same issue that's forcing the personal privacy debate with Apple into the spotlight - hosting any kind of illegal data, which is for all intents and purposes synonymous with CSAM, makes your service criminally liable in dozens of different jurisdictions. A public cloud provider that allows arbitrary file uploads and has absolute privacy cannot exist because of the necessity to allow law enforcement to investigate reports of the illegal hosting of CSAM in dozens of different countries. Any expectation of privacy is a facade when dealing with the cloud. Even beyond the issue of privacy, you're still at the whims of the cloud provider in the end. Fail to play by their rules, and you're done for.

gpm 5y ago

Since we're on HN. Use something like restic and a cron job backing up to something like blackblaze. Yes, it's the cloud, but they don't control the backup software (it's open source, not developed by them, using public APIs) or the encryption keys (protected by a passphrase client side, use a good one). There may be less programmery equivalents of that, which have scheduling built into the backup tool and so on. Just recommending what I've used. (This advice applies to general purpose computers, not sure if there's an equivalent for android or iOS)

fgygjifdscg 5y ago

Synology has a phone app that automatically backs up your photos. Then a pointy clicky setup to backup your backups to Glacier