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More to the point, this is a problem of layers. It's not just where you decide to host. Most every national government is probably involved in data sniffing to

More to the point, this is a problem of layers. It's not just where you decide to host. Most every national government is probably involved in data sniffing to one degree or another, major hubs are/can be bugged, and undersea fiber connections are especially vulnerable. This, in addition to all of the insecurities found in common consumer gear. There's probably a tidal wave of folks moving, but I agree: the move is nothing more than hugely symbolic. The only thing you might accomplish is change the organization that's capturing your data and perhaps the method. But that's about it.

mbesto 13y ago
You can also encrypt the data before it gets to the server by a third-party who holds the key in your own country. (these services do exist btw) The question is then if those companies chose to give up the key to decrypt the information.
toyg 13y ago
The method is significant. I don't really have any issue with NSA trying to MITM, hack phones and tap cables: as long as my endpoints are safe and I'm using encryption between them, they have to work for it, so only real baddies will be seriously targeted. What we cannot defend from is the liberal use of NSLs to subvert endpoints controlled by Google, Facebook etc, which make it way too easy for them to mass-dragnet, leading straight to LOVEINT abuses and the like. Moving away from these services should help in this regard. This said, moving away from these services does take some work, which is why OP deserves lots of kudos.
- frank_boyd 13y ago
  > as long as my endpoints are safe and I'm using encryption between them, they have to work for it, so only real baddies will be seriously targeted. This technical barrier is getting weaker every year (or month or week?), we cannot be sure that encryption is still holding up, or at least: that it will always hold up. And besides that, endpoint security may be acceptable for real experts, but never for the layman (probable backdoors in Windows, MacOS - maybe even Linux OSes). If we as a society decide to accept what the NSA does, then we accept the total loss of privacy - it's then just a matter of time. And without privacy, democracies will die and corruption will flourish. To think that... > only real baddies will be seriously targeted. ...is a grave mistake.

mbesto 13y ago

You can also encrypt the data before it gets to the server by a third-party who holds the key in your own country. (these services do exist btw) The question is then if those companies chose to give up the key to decrypt the information.

toyg 13y ago

The method is significant. I don't really have any issue with NSA trying to MITM, hack phones and tap cables: as long as my endpoints are safe and I'm using encryption between them, they have to work for it, so only real baddies will be seriously targeted. What we cannot defend from is the liberal use of NSLs to subvert endpoints controlled by Google, Facebook etc, which make it way too easy for them to mass-dragnet, leading straight to LOVEINT abuses and the like. Moving away from these services should help in this regard. This said, moving away from these services does take some work, which is why OP deserves lots of kudos.

frank_boyd 13y ago
> as long as my endpoints are safe and I'm using encryption between them, they have to work for it, so only real baddies will be seriously targeted. This technical barrier is getting weaker every year (or month or week?), we cannot be sure that encryption is still holding up, or at least: that it will always hold up. And besides that, endpoint security may be acceptable for real experts, but never for the layman (probable backdoors in Windows, MacOS - maybe even Linux OSes). If we as a society decide to accept what the NSA does, then we accept the total loss of privacy - it's then just a matter of time. And without privacy, democracies will die and corruption will flourish. To think that... > only real baddies will be seriously targeted. ...is a grave mistake.