The advent of consumer cloud storage has definitely made digital life better for everyone. No longer do you have to abuse email attachments to store and send things to other people. Going all-in on remote drives also means that a dead hard disk isn’t a completely apocalyptic scenario anymore. And since smartphone manufacturers have decided that regular people don’t need an exposed file system on their pocket computers, cloud storage providers like Dropbox, Google Drive, and iCloud are often the only option for mobile-first customers.
But as convenient as these services are, they are also completely opaque in their management of your precious online assets. If any of your files are arbitrarily considered to be in violation of their TOS agreement, or something happens to them in transmission, there’s often little to no recourse. The only way to be 100% confident in the integrity of your archives is to physically own all of your storage devices.
Instead of forfeiting all the benefits of online file hosting, take a look at SpiderOak ONE. It’s the only cloud storage system that provides the same easy access, while still offering Edward Snowden-approved safety. Here’s why you should consider switching away from your “free” storage and subscribing to SpiderOak:
Security
The most important advantage SpiderOak has over other providers is a focus on hardened security protocols. Unlike the other big guys, SpiderOak encrypts everything before it even leaves your computer. Once your files are on their server, there’s absolutely no way for them to read their contents or metadata, and they don’t store your login password anywhere. They won’t rifle through your stuff because it is technically infeasible for them to do so — and the same thing goes for the government or any other nosy third parties.
As victims of any of the major security breaches in recent history can attest, SpiderOak’s security measures aren’t just for the tin foil hat crowd. Putting all your faith in the benevolence of massive tech companies just isn’t such a good idea. From Google putting its administrative duties largely in the hands of faceless AIs, to Dropbox electing former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to its board of directors, storing anything online is a liability. It’s up to you to choose who to trust with your data, and SpiderOak’s priorities are much more in line with consumers and private citizens than shareholders or state actors.
Price
While SpiderOak doesn’t offer a free tier, it’s actually a good thing. Aside from being literally unable to read it, they have no incentive to monetize your data as everyone of their users is a paying customer. And the price isn’t outrageous either: 1 terabyte of space typically costs only $129 per year — and we are offering the same plan in the Boing Boing Store for $39.99. That’s considerably less than any of it’s competitors’ annual pricing, and you get much more in return.
Advanced Features
While it might lack the deep software integration of iCloud, or Google’s document-generating abilities, SpiderOak gives you powerful file recovery capabilities in the event that your main system crashes or gets compromised by malware. Their client is also platform-agnostic — it syncs across virtually any kind of system, including MacOS, iOS, Android, Windows, and Linux. You can share files from their web interface, and even create self-destructing links to give collaborators temporary access.
Even if you feel like you’ve got nothing incriminating to hide among your family photos or personal documents, SpiderOak cloud storage is a solid all-around choice for features and price alone. And if you believe that everyone has a right to online privacy, it’s a no-brainer. For ultra-secure file storage with plenty of features for power users, consider a subscription to SpiderOak ONE. A year of access to 1 TB is now $39.99 when you order here.
