The safest encrypted Clouds that do not spy on files and respect privacy

On the cloud we can save and archive any file, to keep a backup copy or to always have them at hand even when away from home.

The only problem with cloud services is the data confidentiality: who assures us that they remain private, confidential and that no one reads them without our knowledge? All the most popular services support encrypted upload of files to the cloud, but very few actually protect the files we keep maintaining the utmost respect for privacy, whatever the nature of the files kept.

In the following guide we will show you the best secure and privacy-friendly clouds to store your fileswhich are also free, ideal to use if we have secret files or folders full of documents that nobody has to read but us.

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What makes encrypted clouds truly secure?

All cloud services use encryption to prevent files from being intercepted as they travel over the Internet. There are currently two types of encryption:

• Server-side encryption: the cloud server keeps the encryption key and it can use it to recover access in case we forget the password or in case of investigations, even without the user’s consent (many of the company policies go in this direction, given that it is necessary comply with the laws of the United States); fall into this category Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox and other famous services.
• Client-side end-to-end encryption: the encryption key is stored on your device (or connected devices) and only you can access your files and folders. Recovering if you forget your password is very difficult (if not impossible), but the level of security is very high since no one can see what files we have stored, not even the supervisory bodies.

For this guide we will therefore advise you only cloud services that support client-side end-to-end encryptionalso called tecnologia Zero-Knowlegde (i.e. zero-knowledge by the cloud service provider).

1) MEGA

The first secure and encrypted cloud service we can try is MEGAamong the best of its kind and with many years of experience behind it.

This cloud service provides 20GB of storage accompanied by a sync client for Android and for iPhone (which can also save photos taken with your phone), desktop apps for PC and Mac, and extensions for major browsers.

MEGA provides state of the art security systemwhere we find end-to-end client-side encryption (E2EE), two-factor authentication, personal recovery key (to download and keep), open source source code and GDPR server with automatic deletion of anonymous data collected.

2) Icedrive

To obtain maximum respect for privacy and take advantage of a secure and impenetrable cloud, we can rely on Icedrivea young but very promising cloud service.

Icedrive provides 10 GB of free storage space supported by Twofish encryption (stronger than AES and standard encryptions used on the web), client-side end-to-end encryption, zero-knowledge platform for each individual account and generation system personal 256-bit key, with double encryption during the upload of every single file and folder.

If we have to keep top secret documents and files that no one should ever readIcedrive is the right choice.

3) Tresorit

If we particularly care about the privacy of our company files stored in the cloud, we must choose a service based in Switzerland such as Tresorit.

Tresorit allows you to take advantage of a collaborative cloud (excellent for companies and offices that work in smart working) with zero-knowledge technology (with privacy guaranteed by Swiss laws), the best for keep trade secretsaccounting files and documents, and other files that should never be lost.

This level of quality comes at a price, but you can try the service for free for 14 days without obligation.

4) pCloud

Among the best services that we can use to keep files we find pCloud.

This service provides 10GB of free storage, a phone and tablet sync app, a handy Windows and Mac app, and servers available throughout Europewith privacy protection guaranteed by Swiss laws (since the company is based in Switzerland).

Optionally we can subscribe to the plan pCloud Encryptionwhich allows you to take advantage of client-side end-to-end encryption to secretly store files, folders, documents and photos, without anyone ever having access to them (apart from us, thanks to our personal encryption key).

Conclusions

By focusing immediately on secure and encrypted cloud services we will obtain a level of privacy unattainable with standard cloud services. Those who care a lot about their privacy would do well to keep all sensitive files only on the clouds mentioned above, activating (where necessary) client-side end-to-end encryption (if the service does not provide it by default).

To add an extra layer of security to files stored in the cloud we can also encrypt files and folders uploaded online, as seen in our guide to programs to encrypt files and folders on Windows PC and at app to encrypt files on phone.