The "cloud": Some one else's hard drive which you cant physically access, can only access with an internet connection, and is wide open to the abuses of authori

The "cloud": Some one else's hard drive which you cant physically access, can only access with an internet connection, and is wide open to the abuses of authorities. "What should they learn? That one can not rely on cloud hosting?" Correct. Only an utter mug trusts and / or "relies" the cloud. Great for utility, but trust? Secure? Rely? No. Never. At the very, very least users should back up anything valuable saved on a "cloud". No, you cannot rely on "cloud" hosting. Use it by all means, dont rely on it though. "The only thing that protects me/my data from this scenario is that Google is Too Big To Be Sued." No copies of your own? After Mega and so forth, if you keep data on a cloud, and a government takes it away, but you have no back up of it, its you own fault. While I might understand a normal mug users being caught like this, a reader of HN should be literally de-HNed for being in such a situation. If a hacker does not accept the compromise of the cloud, then there is no hope. For the sake of mere mortals who are not geeks or hackers, I think its about time cloud providers were made to state the clear limitations and risks of their services. Ordinary users trust these services, and such ordinary people can lose very valuable, deeply personal things like family photos. A cloud service can be a part of a backup strategy, but never ever the whole thing. The cloud is a trade off between free or cheap easy utility, and reliability and security. Know that, then choose and act appropriately.