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Ask Slashdot: Best Country For Secure Online Hosting?

Posted by timothy on from the thou-shalt-not dept.

An anonymous reader writes: I've recently discovered that my hosting company is sending all login credentials unencrypted, prompting me to change providers. Additionally, I'm finally being forced to put some of my personal media library (songs, photos, etc.) on-line for ready access (though for my personal consumption only) from multiple devices and locations... But I simply can't bring myself to trust any cloud-service provider. So while it's been partially asked before, it hasn't yet been answered: Which country has the best on-line personal privacy laws that would made it patently illegal for any actor, state, or otherwise, to access my information? And does anyone have a recommendation on which provider(s) are the best hosts for (legal) on-line storage there?

8 of 113 comments (clear)

  1. Did we learn nothing from Snowden? by PhrostyMcByte · · Score: 4, Informative

    There is no safe place to put your data. If someone wants it they'll get it. If you want to keep something private, encrypt it.

  2. Host it yourself by wbr1 · · Score: 5, Informative
    If you do not trust cloud providers for whatever reason, then DIY. A business class account with a static IP works best, but it can by done with dyndns, etc. Set up your server, and and a VPN to your network. OpenVPN clients are available for just about any device, and then you can access anything you are running inside your lan, UPNP, SMB shares, whatever. You can pick up a crappy firebox on ebay and load an alternate firmware in it for cheap (I got one for 5 bucks at a church yardsale). Or you can just port forward and run your VPN software on some boxen inside your router.

    My total cost is about $130 to comcast a month for a single static and business class 50/10, and my own time. This setup allows me to run whatever services I deem fit, and typically keeps me clear of ISP DCMA notices. I did get one, but once I pointed out that I repair random PCs that do not belong to may, and many may auto launch a torrent app, it was quickly dropped.

    Add a chromecast or two, slingTV, and a good antenna, I do not need cable TV at all, and can stream all my services out.

    --
    Silence is a state of mime.
  3. Encryption by mysidia · · Score: 4, Informative

    Which country has the best on-line personal privacy laws that would made it patently illegal for any actor, state, or otherwise, to access my information?

    NONE. Zip. Zero. Nada.

    If you wish to secure what you host, then use a solution that encrypts it on the client side.

    I believe BitTorrent Sync is an example of that.

    Some hosting and online backup providers also offer solutions where every file is encrypted on the client side, and the hosting provider never gains access to the plaintext files.... this is what you need.

  4. Switzerland by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Quote from some company based there:

    All user data is protected by the Swiss Federal Data Protection Act (DPA) and the Swiss Federal Data Protection Ordinance (DPO) which offers some of the strongest privacy protection in the world for both individuals and entities. Only a court order from the Cantonal Court of Geneva or the Swiss Federal Supreme Court can compel us to release the extremely limited user information we have.

  5. the same question was asked before by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    http://yro.slashdot.org/story/...

    Which country is best to choose for hosting Internet services and locating VMs to avoid government surveillance (both NSA and local)? It should be a country with good connectivity to the US and Europe, but have strong legal protections from mass surveillance. People talk about Switzerland, Norway and Iceland (even Spain). Anyone worked through the pros and cons of each of these? I'm not concerned about legitimate (with court order) surveillance, just the un-targeted mass surveillance most governments seem to do. I don't believe this bad behavior should be rewarded or made easy.

  6. Iceland by slimdave · · Score: 3, Informative

    The good chaps at Clipperz moved to https://1984.is/# for reasons that they explained out in this blog: https://clipperz.is/blog/2013/...

    Their logic seems compelling.

  7. Re:Cuba by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Depends on whether you have any trade secrets worth stealing. If you're putting your personal files online, with little more than your recipe collection, your unfinished pirate-romance novels that in your youth you thought might make a name for you, pictures of the victims geotagged with where you buried them, and the cat pictures that you haven't yet uploaded to Facebook, then yes, you're fine going with the Chinese, who won't give a shit about you. On the other hand, if your hobby includes developing new alloys for aircraft or naval designs, you really, really don't want the Chinese anywhere near your data, and you might trust American incompetence more. Either way, though, you'd really be better off not putting your data in the cloud.

  8. Re:midphase by nospam007 · · Score: 3, Informative

    " I'd look for Icelandic hosting. They seem to appreciate privacy at a national and local level."

    Yes, they're so private, they sold the DNA of all their citizens to a private company.
    http://www.wired.com/2015/03/i...