My self-hosted Nextcloud server is online for over 4 years. Time to look back.

Back in school and at university I started using online cloud providers to store my data like notes, homework or photos. The services I remember using most was Dropbox and Google Drive, while the latter was a major improvement during my Bachelors when documents had to be edited in group work. I think my first motivation to host my own cloud was curiosity and not being affected by rising storage costs, today I’m seeing even stronger reasons that are discussed below.

Nowadays cloud storage is so omnipresent that many people don’t even recognize the difference between files stored remotely or locally anymore. If I got 10cents whenever I had to explain that buying a new phone to store more photos isn’t necessary because it’s just the free 15GB Google Photos contingent being filled.. I probably had 1€ by now. On the one hand this is great, because the technology is reachable for anyone, on the other it leads to the loss of control.

The walled garden

Storing your photos and editing documents online works great as long as you’re staying on the platform. For example, Google Photos does allow you to download single photos. But exporting an album or your whole image collection is not directly possible. Thankfully, EU regulations enable switching cloud providers to some degree.

Sovereignty

Currently world politics is shaking and globalization brought us (EU citizens) into a position of vulnerability. Arguably most digital services are provided by the “Big Five” Google, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft and Meta. Digital services hosted outside of the EU are affected by foreign jurisdiction and could be snooped at or restricted at any time. In recent years many cases surfaced in articles where online services were blocked for countries or individuals. For example, developers were blocked from accessing Github due to geopolitical sanctions. In another case, sanctions against the ICC judge Kimberly Prost and others were executed by cancelling Google, Amazon, VISA and Mastercard access.

It appears to be a good time to build knowledge in using alternatives.

A tiny drop in the puddle

From applications to games, many software products were turned in the last ten years from one-time purchases to monthly paid subscriptions. I want to call it SaaS-ification. Some prominent examples are the Microsoft Office suite or Adobe Photoshop. You don’t own the software and cannot simply decide to use an older version. At any time, a company can stop providing services to you or raise the cost. In a time where most data is stored in the provider’s cloud, this requires a lot of trust, or blinders. A positive example is the software Draw.io, which operates on a privacy first storage model.

Beyond self-hosting my files and photos I still use many services from big tech. Especially Google is strong in my portfolio, as I’m using an Android phone. Some critical ones might be Google Calendar, Google Sign-in, Gmail and Youtube. I hope to slowly move forward in using more alternatives. As suggested by Marc-Uwe Kling, I follow the idea of the digital independence day and consistently try out new alternatives. However, not always on the 1st Sunday of the month. Join the rebellion.

media.ccc.de: 39C3 - Die Känguru-Rebellion: Digital Independence Day 39C3 – Die Känguru-Rebellion: Digital Independence Day