Few people have the time, or desire for that matter, to read through the legal jargon in Terms of Agreement or Private Policy documents that accompany the use of the cloud for data storage and accessibility. Hitting “Agree” or “OK” on the computer is much more our style. But the information contained in these seemingly endless and horribly dull documents provides an easy answer to the question posed in the headline: Mobile cloud computing is secure, as long as you know exactly what you’re getting.
Something often lost in translation, for example, is the ownership of any upload you make to your cloud network. Essentially, for a file to be accessible on multiple devices, the file needs to be packaged and stored somewhere. The “packaging” of your data creates a publication version of it. The “cloud” is not a floating storage locker to which you and your devices solely have the key. All mobile clouds are corporate owned (see Google Cloud, for example). In return for the service these corporations provide their mobile customers, they have a “spare key” to the files which are now in a published format so they can be “shipped” to your desired device–from your phone to your laptop, from your laptop to your tablet, and so on.Different companies juggle these “publications” in different ways, but they are all described and defined plainly in the agreement we merely skim in our rush to use the actual product.
Google, for example, allows users to retain intellectual property rights over their contents within the cloud, but the company retains “the worldwide license to use, host, store, reproduce, modify, create derivative works (such as those resulting from translations, adaptations or other changes we make so that your content works better with our Services), communicate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute such content.” This revelation may seem like a worthwhile trade now, but in 2006 when the National Security Agency was pulling phone records from AT&T, Verizon, and BellSouth customers and using the data stored on those phones, consumers were outraged. Different companies have different policies when it comes to the data you entrust to them. But they trust you to read those policies, understand them, and use them appropriately too. Accidental data disclosure is also something to consider when uploading personal files to a cloud system.
One thing we are all careful with in terms of security is our money. How many security questions such as “Where did you go to high school?” and “Who was your childhood hero?” have you set up to secure the log in to your online banking?
The PayPal app, used to transfer funds via a phone number or email, is currently used by 17 million active mobile users. In 2010, a software oversight that neglected to confirm the authenticity of the PayPal website when users logged on created a way for hackers to follow certain paths to customers’ private accounts. Luckily, app makers issue updates on a regular basis and a more secure version corrected the situation quickly and easily. In PayPal’s case, the company issued an update the following day and reimbursed its customers for any fraudulent activity that took place within the time frame of user vulnerability.
In short, the data you store in your mobile cloud is as secure as any information you entrust to a third party. Banks foreclose and credit scores rise and fall based on information you provide to your cable, gas, and electricity providers. Remember, these agreements are privacy agreements, not confidentiality agreements. As long as you know the difference, you can freely, yet cautiously, use the mobile cloud to your advantage.
