Privacy Invasion is a Threat to Cloud Storage

Did you know that some companies are asking you to reveal your passwords for social networks like Facebook and Twitter before they give you the job? This subject caught a lot of attention that caused Maryland to pass legislation that forbade employers from asking such demands. I believe that employers with such ambitions should revert back to good old drug tests and reference checks if they want to examine their potential employees.

People might ponder what this has to do with cloud computing. The ascent of clouds – that include, but are not limited to Google Apps, Carbonite, Microsoft SkyDrive, Dropbox and several others that offer us inexpensive ways to store our data away from our homes – have the power to make us susceptible to demands for access.

Instead of your employer reading through your personal messages to divulge your most embarrassing moments or how you were a geek back in grade school, it could find out your tax returns for the previous ten years or things you don’t want anyone else to see. We registered with a personal cloud in order to get synchronized and to share with our computers and cell phones. But by signing up with them, are we increasing the likelihood of the possibility of others getting access to our information? Should we refrain from using clouds to store our data?

The utilization of personal clouds has spread too much, offering the efficient productivity and back-up storage every one wanted so much. It’s a lose-lose situation, if people get dissuaded from clouds due to the overreach of the business-world and government. That’s why lawmakers should prohibit such practices. For the most part, employers seem to realize how such practices would throw negative light on their businesses – we do not need protection from them.

If lawmakers take action, this can be fought: An organization that does not respect the confidentiality of its employees, before or after you have the job, is not worth working for. Don’t work for such companies. This would mean no competent employees for such shady businesses, with or without cloud.