In response to the NSA spying scandal, search giant Google has announced that all customer data stored in their “Drive” product will be encrypted as it is saved. Using 128-bit encryption technology, information is saved to disk so that is unreadable by hackers or spies without the relevant decryption keys.
Although this sounds great for businesses and individuals concerned about international spying, the use of encryption by Google actually makes no difference at all. Because the encryption is applied by Google, and because they maintain the decryption keys required to recover the data, the US government still retains the right to access data without needing to inform the owner. Under the terms of the PATRIOT Act, the US government can demand access to data held by Google (or any other US-based service provider) and the decryption keys needed to read it.
As a result, encryption provides no protection at all from foreign spying for concerned businesses.
As before the advice remains to choose a UK or European based Cloud service provider for data storage if you would prefer your information to be protected from surveillance. Your business will also benefit from localised support and improved network speeds as you are physically closer to your provider.
To find out more about the benefits of UK-based Cloud file hosting, call the Broadband Cloud Solutions team today on 0141 585 6363. Our LiveDrive service uses UK-owned and hosted data centres, ensuring your data is not accessible under the terms of the Patriot Act.
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