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In recent years, an increasing number of private users have turned to online services such as OneDrive, Dropbox, and Google Drive. These platforms allow you to store your data online and conveniently access or edit it from any location. Access is possible via web browsers (such as Internet Explorer, Safari, or Firefox), proprietary client applications, or dedicated mobile apps.

Langmeier Backup also supports cloud backup to these online services. However, it is important to note that online backup services should not replace local data backups; rather, they should be used as a supplement. If you choose to store your data in the cloud, you must always ensure that a local copy exists. Cloud backups are generally suitable only for private users who are willing to accept certain risks and are not recommended for businesses. For companies, solutions such as OwnCloud are preferable. OwnCloud offers a secure alternative to public cloud services like Microsoft OneDrive (formerly SkyDrive), Dropbox, and Google Drive. Instead of entrusting your data to external providers, OwnCloud enables you to set up a private server that functions as cloud storage and can be accessed from anywhere. For enhanced security, the server can encrypt files after upload, ensuring that only users with the correct password can view or edit them.

Using Cloud Storage as an Online Backup Solution: Risks and Considerations

Cloud Data Protection: Backing up data to online services such as Google Drive involves significant risks. Recent findings highlight a critical issue: if Google determines that your files violate its terms of service, you may lose access to them permanently. This can happen to any document, and currently, there is no way for users to recover files that have been blocked by Google.

Giulio Alighieri, a Swiss data protection consultant, explains: “I see this as a major disadvantage of using the public cloud. Firstly, it demonstrates how thoroughly all uploaded documents are analyzed by Google. Secondly, users can never be certain which files Google may choose to block. It is entirely possible that, in the future, Google will also block all strongly encrypted files, as their content cannot be analyzed and may therefore be considered a violation of the terms of use.”

A similar case has already occurred. The exact error message when attempting to access a blocked file in Google Drive or Google Docs reads: “You can't access this content because it violates our Terms of Service. You can find more information on this topic in the Google Drive help.”

For Brave Private Users Only: Back Up Data to the Public Cloud with Langmeier Backup

For these reasons, we recommend cloud backup to public online services only for private users who are aware of and willing to accept the associated risks. This approach should never be used in a business context. If you still wish to proceed, you can set up your data backup with Langmeier Backup as follows:

Simply select your Google Drive, OneDrive, or Dropbox folder as the backup destination. These services will then automatically synchronize your backup to the cloud.

The backup job will appear as follows:

Once the file has been synchronized with the backup folder in the cloud, a green checkmark will appear next to the file name in Windows Explorer.

Look it up further: Backup, Cloud backup, Data backup

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