Security of data stored on Google services
The danger that information will be used if someone always has it. If more than one person knows the secret, this is no longer a secret. Based on this, you need to choose the most reliable repository of information, realizing that the threat of falling into third parties is still preserved. I repeat: the question is the probability of such an outcome.
In our wonderful democratic country(RF) I personally didn’t order SMS messages about the upcoming elections, and nevertheless I get the message “Come to the polls”. This seemingly harmless smska means much more than it seems at first glance; namely, all mobile operators "drain" information about their subscribers at the first call of the state. Unlike Google, which declined to provide the US government with information on the most common searches . Can you imagine the situation in our country that Yandex or Mail.ru refuse to provide information to the government? I admit this option, but it is believed very poorly. This is what related to interaction with the state.
Now take a walk on the Savelovsky market. Databases of traffic police, again mobile operators, tax, medical (for example, oncology dispensaries, in order to monitor which old man is sick, then you can start to roll up and offer fake options with apartments in order to seize property) and many others. These, in my opinion, are insanely and infinitely important things that have long been publicly available in our country.
I made the following conclusions for myself:
- I acknowledge the possibility that Google may transfer information to third parties. But if this information is not given to the US government, then even if it is passed on to the FBI, in the hands of Russian intruders or our valiant law enforcement agencies, it will not be soon. And I'm not afraid of FBI - I'm not an international criminal.
- I also recognize the possibility of information theft. But this is the danger that we have been exposed to for a long time - the e-mail service. Email can be intercepted at many stages of forwarding. And if earlier I sent a document by e-mail, and now I post it in Google Docs - then from my point of view, in terms of security, these actions are the same. I follow a simple principle for myself - what I’m ready to send by email, I trust Google Docs and Calendars. I will not send all the valuable information, for example, documents prepared for a patent application, by e-mail, and I will not post them in Google Docs.
UPDATE :
1. As a result of the discussion in the comments, it became clear that I did not very clearly formulate my idea that this is my personal opinion as a user. Therefore, I would replace the first paragraph of this text with:
“I often asked myself the question of data security when I started using Google Apps. I thought a lot about this and came to the following explanation for myself. ”
2. bobuk questioned my statements in the article about how states can access these Internet services.
3. In no case do I have any complaints about the Yandex and Mail.ru services. I cited them as an example only because it seemed to me that Russian services could gain access to them more easily than American Internet services. bobuk showed the convention of state borders in this case.
4. My vision of the details of the situation changes depending on the new facts received, but the main conclusion has remained unchanged for a long time - do not post information that you are not ready to send via email to online services .
Many thanks to all for the comments. It's nice to have a productive discussion of your concerns. That was the purpose of the post - to get feedback about your thoughts and reasoning, to learn something new.