Internet privacy and other fun

So, this is a notification about a few important new updates (which you may have already heard).

One, Google is going to be further cutting into your storage. Starting june next year, unused accounts that haven't been accessed in two years will have their data deleted. There will be warning notices beforehand, and logging in and maybe uploading a file will reset the clock, but this is problematic for historical data that might be stored in Drive. If you have access to data that may become permanently taken off the Internet (i.e. patches for games, archived stories and media, etc), please take measures to make sure you can keep it, and if you're able, establish mirrors so that everyone else can keep access too.

Next, photos in Google Photos will now count toward your quota, as will any Google Docs, Slides, or Sheets that you create or modify past that date. I've also heard rumors that the unlimited storage plans may be going away, but I don't personally have one and have less information on this. It may be false. However, since this is likely a money grab or an attempt to prevent a noncompete lawsuit, it's likely.

Of course, there's also the obvious issue that they probably keep uploaded data indefinitely, even if you delete it (which really just removes access to it). My cynicism also points out that they can still use your data internally for purposes beyond just advertising (which they say they don't use your personal data for, but they only mention advertising), and I don't know if or how it's encrypted, if at all. Preventing employee access is not the same as encrypting data.

There are possible alternatives to Google Drive for storage, including Mega.nz, which claims to have encryption on the client, so that they never see your data. They also currently offer 50GB free (although there's some kind of "achievements program" catch to keeping it, which may make that infeasible in reality). Hopefully they can maintain that long-term. I wish them the best of luck with that, in a legitimately non-sarcastic way; it's by far the largest free storage quota I'm aware of.

Another interesting tool is something called Syncthing, a FOSS application and protocol that implements a private peer-to-peer network for handling sync and backup of files on your computer. It's a bring-your-own-storage solution, nearly exactly like the paid (and unrelated) Resilio Sync, but it might be worth it if you can build or acquire a backup NAS or two, or just want to keep your reading library of all those downloaded FimFiction stories kept up-to-date across your PC and notebook. Sure, you might use your computer for other things (like work), but we all know what its main use is: Cute stories about magical ponies!

In other news, the EU is trying to get rid of encryption again. Someone apparently decided terrorism was a good career choice, and in response the European government is trying to backdoor all encryption again*. Never mind that, as entirely usual in these cases, they dropped the ball the data they already had that would have let them catch the guy.

I quote,

The ORF comments on this ironically: "These are the "competent authorities": GCHQ, DGSE, BND, etc., whose vacuum-cleaning methods on the optical fibres produce less and less processable data due to increasing transport encryption. In order to avert this impending data poverty, general keys have now been requested and it looks as if this will be approved by the Council. This means that the BVT (Austrian Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counter Terrorism), which is unable to even eliminate a terrorist who is served twice on a silver platter by two other services, will in future be able to investigate for weeks in chat sessions without success."

Unfortunately, this absolutely terrible plan will resurface the next time some disaffected person makes a questionable career choice, and because of our friend the false dichotomy fallacy, will likely pass. If you live in the EU, and can contact anyone involved in the decision-making process, see if you can contact them and ask them to vote against this encryption backdoor policy. You'll probably have an ongoing task ahead of you, but it will be appreciated by those of us who are aware of Internet security and its importance.

*There is a ton of really fascinating info (that's just one out of hundreds of explanations by technical people on why it's a bad idea) out there about why backdooring encryption is bad, but the simplest argument is: replace the government with your neighbor/parents/landlord/RIAA/MPAA :D, and ask if you want them poking through your stuff. If all of your stuff is somehow innocent (the old "Only bad people need to worry" argument), follow up the question by asking if you want them watching you on the toilet. It's vulgar, but it's a famous comparison that's excellent for getting the point across. Privacy ought to be a right, and was probably only not included in the Declaration of Independence because today's mass surveillance was so abhorrent to the founders' views that it was never considered as a possibility.

And lastly, no matter how the ongoing election investigation ends up turning out, both potential presidents really don't like Section 230, the law that allows for free speech on the Internet (admittedly, they have good reason to be upset, but that's the fault of a few companies being unethical, and the law has no relation to that issue).
I want to make this clear: Both Biden and Trump do not like Section 230, so even if Biden is confirmed president after the investigations end, or Trump ends up back in office, this will be a problem. Without this protection, websites would be made legally responsible for the conduct of their users, rather than the users. This makes it highly dangerous to host any user-provided content on the 'Net. Say goodbye to any sort of political commentary, fanfiction, and any number of other mainstays of the Internet. It will all be up for deletion if a bad actor posts one illegal item on that site, and no one will want to take that risk in the first place by creating such a site.

Worse, the way it's implemented makes it clear that it's not just the EU who's mounting an attack on the encryption that keeps your privacy and personal data safe online. The reason they want this protection revoked is also to help stop the proliferation of certain kinds of illegal material, which is a laudable goal, but unfortunately, the way this is to be done means that encryption can't be used to protect communications through that site or service. The linked article's author suspects that this is actually a mirrored push by the US to also remove encryption via a subtle nuance of the bill.
It's time for us Americans to also speak out against the EARN IT act.