

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

If so, what's the solution?
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apgwoz
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> that discuss these
issues.

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brk
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
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.

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inimino
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.

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tjpick
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".

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brk
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.

