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Ask YC: Are we relying too much on the cloud/social networks preserving our personal data?

4 points by DavidSJ 18y ago

If so, what's the solution?

brk 18y ago
A new startup: The Clouds Cloud (this is a cheap pun on the Williams Communications "carriers carrier" business model 8 years ago). I don't personally rely on any particular social network to preserve my personal data. I know how to get in touch with all the people I really want to do business with. If LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. all went away tomorrow it would be no terrible loss to me.
apgwoz 18y ago
Yes. The solution is to demand that services allow us to backup our data in some meaningful way. This might mean XML that we can transform on our own, or something else. There are groups like http://autonomo.us http://autonomo.us that discuss these issues.
- brk 18y ago
  Really? By extension if you created a popular startup would you support people "demanding" that you do things a certain way to appease their needs, even if it was counter to your business model?
  - apgwoz 18y ago
    Is it my data, or am I giving it to the startup? Why is it OK for me to not have a way to get my data should your service die, or get acquired, or the terms change? Would it be OK for Apple/Microsoft to not allow you to back up your data in a reasonable, portable format? These are still things we as users of these "cloud" services have yet to really question, yet it's going to be important as we move away from desktop applications and more towards the "cloud." It's scary. And, to answer your question, if I was running a popular startup, I would want to keep that popularity by being reasonable when users of my system asked for things. Seems like a reasonable request to me. > even if it was counter to your business model? What kind of business am I running if I don't listen to my users? Probably not a profitable one.
tjpick 18y ago
There was a Mark Pilgrim post from a couple of years ago- can't find it at the moment - where he said that getting your data out of an application is not a feature. I agree. Always maintain your personal data on your own computer and only push to services things at you need access to externally or want to publish/share. Even when requiring external access I would rather have ssh or similar into my own box than "the cloud".
inimino 18y ago
Not only preservation, but security and control over our personal data deserves more attention. Who's to say what service providers can or will do with our data? Until we start seriously thinking about this and demanding basic rights, standards, and limitations in the storage and use of user data, we will continue to be unpleasantly surprised by what unscrupulous or incompetent companies do with it or allow to happen to it.

4 points by DavidSJ 18y ago

If so, what's the solution?

brk 18y ago

A new startup: The Clouds Cloud (this is a cheap pun on the Williams Communications "carriers carrier" business model 8 years ago). I don't personally rely on any particular social network to preserve my personal data. I know how to get in touch with all the people I really want to do business with. If LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. all went away tomorrow it would be no terrible loss to me.

apgwoz 18y ago

Yes. The solution is to demand that services allow us to backup our data in some meaningful way. This might mean XML that we can transform on our own, or something else. There are groups like http://autonomo.us http://autonomo.us that discuss these issues.

brk 18y ago
Really? By extension if you created a popular startup would you support people "demanding" that you do things a certain way to appease their needs, even if it was counter to your business model?
- apgwoz 18y ago
  Is it my data, or am I giving it to the startup? Why is it OK for me to not have a way to get my data should your service die, or get acquired, or the terms change? Would it be OK for Apple/Microsoft to not allow you to back up your data in a reasonable, portable format? These are still things we as users of these "cloud" services have yet to really question, yet it's going to be important as we move away from desktop applications and more towards the "cloud." It's scary. And, to answer your question, if I was running a popular startup, I would want to keep that popularity by being reasonable when users of my system asked for things. Seems like a reasonable request to me. > even if it was counter to your business model? What kind of business am I running if I don't listen to my users? Probably not a profitable one.

tjpick 18y ago

There was a Mark Pilgrim post from a couple of years ago- can't find it at the moment - where he said that getting your data out of an application is not a feature. I agree. Always maintain your personal data on your own computer and only push to services things at you need access to externally or want to publish/share. Even when requiring external access I would rather have ssh or similar into my own box than "the cloud".

inimino 18y ago

Not only preservation, but security and control over our personal data deserves more attention. Who's to say what service providers can or will do with our data? Until we start seriously thinking about this and demanding basic rights, standards, and limitations in the storage and use of user data, we will continue to be unpleasantly surprised by what unscrupulous or incompetent companies do with it or allow to happen to it.