The Risks of Cloud Computing
Relying on the cloud is just so irresistibly efficient. No more printouts, bulky drives or e-mailing documents to myself. Yet it’s terrifying to rely on technology more than my own memory, says Jen Wieczner.
Storing swaths of data beyond the physical realm entails certain risks, like losing everything at the whim of an administrator’s errant keystroke. Jen Wieczner is wary of cloud computing: “So entrusting my memories and records to Google and Facebook feels like plugging in, a Matrix-like oneness as though I have a USB port in my brain. It feels like a trust fall, or maybe riding in a self-driving car. I’m not the type of sharer whose every move you can track in Facebook status updates or tweets, but I do keep extensive personal annals, a sort of digital scrapbook of my own.”
