all-in-one privacy solution":["Proton Unlimited is een all-in-one privacy-oplossing"],"Black Friday":["Black Friday"],"No ads. Privacy by default.":["Geen advertenties. Standaard privacy."],"People before profits":["Mensen vóór winst"],"Security through transparency":["Veiligheid door openheid"],"The best Proton Mail ${ BLACK_FRIDAY } deals":["De beste ${ BLACK_FRIDAY }-deals voor Proton Mail"],"The world’s only community- supported email service":["'s Werelds enige door de community ondersteunde e-mailservice"]},"specialoffer:limited":{"${ hours } hour":["${ hours } uur","${ hours } uur"],"${ hoursLeft }, ${ minutesLeft } and ${ secondsLeft } left":["Nog ${ hoursLeft }, ${ minutesLeft } en ${ secondsLeft } resterend"],"${ minutes } minute":["${ minutes } minuut","${ minutes } minuten"],"${ seconds } second":["${ seconds } seconde","${ seconds } seconden"],"Limited time offer":["Aanbieding beperkt geldig"]},"specialoffer:listitem":{"Create multiple addresses":["Maak meerdere e-mailadressen aan"],"Hide-my-email aliases":["Hide-my-email-aliassen"],"Quickly unsubscribe from newsletters":["Meld u eenvoudig af voor nieuwsbrieven"],"Use your own domain name":["Gebruik uw eigen domeinnaam"]},"specialoffer:logos":{"As featured in":["Zoals te lezen in"]},"specialoffer:metadescription":{"Get an encrypted email that protects your privacy":["Kies voor beveiligde e-mail die uw privacy beschermt"]},"specialoffer:metatitle":{"Proton Mail Black Friday Sale - Up to 40% off":["Proton Mail Black Friday Sale - Tot 40% korting"]},"specialoffer:newmetadescription":{"Get up to 40% off Proton Mail subscriptions this Black Friday. Find great deals on our secure end-to-end encrypted email plans.":["Profiteer tijdens Black Friday van wel 40% korting op Proton Mail-abonnementen. Bekijk geweldige aanbiedingen voor onze veilige, end-to-end versleutelde e-mailabonnementen."]},"specialoffer:newmetatitle":{"Proton Mail Black Friday sale | Up to 40% off secure email":["Proton Mail Black Friday Sale | Tot 40% korting op veilige e-mail"]},"specialoffer:note":{"* Billed at ${ TOTAL_SUM } for the first year":["*U betaalt ${ TOTAL_SUM } voor het eerste jaar"],"*Billed at ${ TOTAL_SUM } for the first 2 years":["*U betaalt ${ TOTAL_SUM } voor de eerste 2 jaar"],"30-day money-back guarantee":["30 dagen niet-goed-geld-terug-garantie"],"Billed at ${ TOTAL_SUM } for the first 2 years":["U betaalt ${ TOTAL_SUM } voor de eerste 2 jaar"],"Billed at ${ TOTAL_SUM } for the first year":["U betaalt ${ TOTAL_SUM } voor het eerste jaar"],"You save ${ SAVE_SUM }":["U bespaart ${ SAVE_SUM }"]},"specialoffer:off":{"${ PERCENT_OFF } off":["−${ PERCENT_OFF }"]},"specialoffer:testimonial":{"I love my ProtonMail":["Ik ben fan van ProtonMail"],"My favorite email service":["Mijn favoriete e-mailservice"],"Thanks Proton for keeping us all safe in the complicated internet universe.":["Proton houdt ons allemaal veilig in het complexe internetuniversum."],"You get what you pay for. In the case of big tech, if you pay nothing, you get used. I quit using Gmail and switched to @ProtonMail":["Je krijgt waarvoor je betaalt. In het geval van Big Tech betekent 'gratis' dat je wordt gebruikt. Ik ben gestopt met Gmail en overgestapt op @ProtonMail"]},"specialoffer:time":{"Days":["Dagen"],"Hours":["Uur"],"Min":["Min"]},"specialoffer:title":{"And much more":["En nog veel meer"],"Safe from trackers":["Beschermd tegen trackers"],"Stay organized":["Blijf georganiseerd"],"Black Friday email deals":["Black Friday-deals voor e-mail"],"Don’t just take our word for it":["U hoeft ons niet te geloven"],"Make your inbox yours":["Maak uw inbox van u"],"Our story":["Ons verhaal"],"Transfer your data from Google in one click":["Zet uw gegevens van Google over met één klik"]},"specialoffer:tooltip":{"Access blocked content and browse privately. Includes ${ TOTAL_VPN_SERVERS }+ servers in ${ TOTAL_VPN_COUNTRIES }+ countries, connect up to 10 devices, access worldwide streaming services, malware and ad-blocker, and more.":["Bekijk geblokkeerde inhoud en surf privé. Met ${ TOTAL_VPN_SERVERS }+ servers in meer dan ${ TOTAL_VPN_COUNTRIES } landen, verbinding met maximaal 10 apparaten, wereldwijd toegang tot streamingdiensten, malware- en advertentieblokkering, en meer."],"Easily share your calendar with your family, friends or colleagues, and view external calendars.":["Deel uw agenda eenvoudig met uw familie, vrienden of collega's, en bekijk externe agenda's."],"Includes support for 1 custom email domain, 10 email addresses, 10 hide-my-email aliases, calendar sharing, and more.":["Ondersteuning voor 1 aangepast e-maildomein, 10 e-mailadressen, 10 hide-my-email-aliassen, gedeelde agenda's en meer."],"Includes support for 3 custom email domains, 15 email addresses, unlimited hide-my-email aliases, calendar sharing, and more.":["Ondersteuning voor 3 aangepaste e-maildomeinen, 15 e-mailadressen, onbeperkt hide-my-email-aliassen, gedeelde agenda's en meer."],"Manage up to 25 calendars, mobile apps, secured with end-to-end encryption, 1-click calendar import from Google, and more.":["Beheer tot 25 agenda's, mobiele apps, beveiligd met end-to-end versleuteling, agenda's van Google importeren met 1 klik, en meer."]},"Status Banner":{"At the moment we are experiencing issues with the Proton VPN service":["Momenteel werkt de dienst van Proton VPN niet naar behoren"]},"Status banner":{"Learn more":["Meer informatie"],"Please note that at the moment we are experiencing issues with the ${ issues[0] } service.":["We ondervinden op dit moment problemen met de ${ issues[0] }service."],"We are experiencing issues with one or more services at the moment.":["We ondervinden momenteel problemen met een of meer services."]},"steps":{"Step":["Stap"]},"suggestions":{"Suggestions":["Suggesties"]},"Support":{"Sub category":["Subcategorie","Subcategorieën"]},"Support article":{"${ readingTime } min":["${ readingTime } min","${ readingTime } min"],"Category":["Categorie","Categorieën"],"Didn’t find what you were looking for?":["Niet gevonden wat u zocht?"],"General contact":["Algemene contactgegevens"],"Get help":["Krijg hulp"],"Legal contact":["Contactgegevens voor juridische zaken"],"Media contact":["Contactgegevens voor media"],"Partnerships contact":["Contactgegevens voor partnerschappen"],"Reading":["Lezen"]},"Support Form Platform option":{"VPN for Android TV":["VPN voor Android TV"],"VPN for Apple TV":["VPN voor Apple TV"],"VPN for Chromebook":["VPN voor Chromebook"]},"Support troubleshooting":{"App version":["App-versie"],"Browser":["Browser"],"Check if this helps":["Kijk of dit helpt"],"Choose a product":["Kies een product"],"Did this solve your issue?":["Heeft dit uw probleem opgelost?"],"Faster assistance is just a few clicks away":["Snellere hulp is met een paar klikken geregeld"],"How can we help?":["Hoe kunnen we helpen?"],"No, contact support":["Nee, contact opnemen met ondersteuning"],"Please fill out one field after another":["Vul de velden achter elkaar in"],"Please make your selections":["Maak een keuze"],"Proton account":["Proton-account"],"Proton for Business":["Proton for Business"],"Thank you for your feedback":["Bedankt voor uw feedback"],"What can we help with?":["Waar kunnen we mee helpen?"],"Yes":["Ja"]},"support_modal_search_query":{"Search query":["Zoekopdracht"]},"support_search_button":{"Search":["Zoeken"]},"support_search_i_am_looking_for":{"I'm looking for":["Ik ben op zoek naar"]},"SupportForm":{"For a faster resolution, please report the issue from the Bridge app: Help > Report a problem.":["Om problemen sneller op te lossen, meldt u het via de Bridge-app: Help > Een probleem melden."],"Information":["Informatie"]},"SupportForm:option":{"Account Security":["Accountbeveiliging"],"Contacts":["Contactpersonen"],"Custom email domain":["Aangepast e-maildomein"],"Email delivery and Spam":["E-maillevering en spam"],"Encryption":["Versleuteling"],"Login and password":["Inlognaam en wachtwoord"],"Merge aliases and accounts":["Aliassen en accounts samenvoegen"],"Migrate to 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hebt."],"The page you’re looking for might have been removed, or it could be an\nold link.":["De pagina waarnaar u op zoek bent, is mogelijk verwijderd, of u gebruikt een oude koppeling."],"Your question may already have an answer in our knowledge base:":["Uw vraag is mogelijk al beantwoord in onze kennisbank:"]},"Title":{"On this page":["Op deze pagina"],"Page not found":["Pagina niet gevonden"],"Related articles":["Gerelateerde artikelen"],"Share ${ thisPage }":["${ thisPage } delen"],"Switch to Proton Pass - Contact us":["Stap over op Proton Pass - Neem contact met ons op"],"Thank you!":["Bedankt!"],"this page":["deze pagina"]},"tooltip_vpn":{"Access blocked content and browse privately. Includes ${ TOTAL_VPN_SERVERS }+ servers in ${ TOTAL_VPN_COUNTRIES }+ countries, highest VPN speed, ${ TOTAL_VPN_CONNECTIONS } VPN connections, worldwide streaming services, malware and ad-blocker, and more.":["Bekijk geblokkeerde inhoud en surf privé. 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Internet users of a certain age might recall earlier days of personal computing, with stacks of labeled floppy disks or CDs lying around the office. Those have all but disappeared thanks to the widespread availability of cloud storage, which took off around 2010.
Back then, only a few big companies offered it, including Amazon, Google, and Apple. Today, however, there are many more cloud storage services available, some of which are far more private and secure than the earliest cloud services. The affordability of cloud storage has also increased, making it possible to upload huge amounts of data to the cloud relatively cheaply.
Even if you already use cloud storage for some things, you may benefit from additional privacy and use cases you might not have considered.
What is cloud storage?
Cloud storage lets you save files on servers owned and operated by the cloud storage provider. Typically the provider creates multiple copies across several data centers in different locations for redundancy. These servers are where your files are physically located and are what is commonly referred to as “the cloud.”
You can upload files to the cloud from your device through a web-based software interface. You can also download the files to any device by logging into the same interface.
Features and benefits of cloud storage
Cheap cloud storage has fundamentally changed computing in ways most people don’t realize. It enabled companies to launch websites and expand their operations without needing large, up-front investments in server infrastructure.
But cloud storage also benefits individual internet users in big ways. If you’ve ever run out of space on your phone, you know the convenience of saving photos and videos directly to the cloud. Here are some of the biggest benefits of cloud storage:
Security for your files
In general, cloud storage offers security benefits over local storage for a few reasons. Files that you only store on your device can be lost if you lose or break that device. Additionally, files on your device are vulnerable to attacks if your system gets hacked. One common attack is ransomware, in which a hacker gains access to your device by phishing or other means and then encrypts all your files until you pay a ransom.
One of the benefits of cloud storage is that your files are saved in highly secure data centers in multiple locations. (That said, not all cloud storage providers are equally secure. See the section below on the importance of end-to-end encryption.)
Data is synced
When you upload a file to the cloud, that file becomes accessible on any device with an internet connection. (This is one of the pros and cons of cloud storage — you need an internet connection to access files, though many providers have an offline mode.)
Collaboration
Data syncing has an additional advantage for collaborating with others. With cloud storage, multiple people can access a shared folder. So you can work with teams across the office or across the country, uploading, modifying, and downloading files in real time.
Potential savings
The cost savings are especially true for enterprise users, but individual consumers can also benefit from efficiencies with cloud storage. Thumb drives are almost obsolete because it’s so easy to store and share files (even very large files) on the cloud. You can also add large amounts of storage to your account relatively inexpensively.
Ability to add more storage as needed
Cloud storage providers usually have tiered plans with different amounts of storage available. With local storage, you need to buy new hardware if you run out of space. With cloud storage, you can upgrade to a new storage tier instantly.
Why use cloud storage
There are many use cases for cloud storage, including the following:
Sharing large files
Most email platforms have a maximum file size for attachments. The benefit of cloud storage is that you can upload the files to the server and then grant file access to your recipient. For example, Proton Drive lets you share large files for free with no size limits.
Sharing photos
It’s never been easier to take high-quality photos, but storing and sharing them can be a logistical challenge. Using cloud storage is the easiest way to catalog your pictures. You can store almost unlimited pictures in the cloud at a relatively low cost and retrieve them indefinitely.
Sharing videos
Like photos, sharing videos is one of the biggest advantages of cloud storage. Videos are usually very large files that are difficult to send via email or other means. With Proton Drive and other cloud storage providers, you can easily back up and share large video files.
Link sharing
Not everyone uses the same cloud storage service, which can make sharing files by granting access to shared folders difficult. Link sharing was created to solve this problem. With link sharing, you can upload a file to your cloud provider and generate a link to that file that anyone can access. In Proton Drive, you can create a sharing link to any file, which grants anyone with the link the ability to download that file. Files are stored end-to-end encrypted and accessible to your recipients, whether they use Proton Drive or not.
Backing up your data
IT professionals sometimes recommend backing up data you can’t afford to lose in four locations: on two physical drives and two cloud storage providers. Whether you go to such lengths or not, it’s smart to back up your data to the cloud periodically. This is useful if you ever lose your device or need to replace it.
The importance of encrypted cloud storage
Most cloud storage providers aren’t end-to-end encrypted. This means that the company operating the service can access the contents of your files and often does so for advertising or usability purposes.
The two main risks are to your privacy and your data’s security. On the privacy front, companies like Google are known to automatically scan users’ data (sometimes with disastrous results(nieuw venster)), and the company can potentially turn over data to third parties without your knowledge. Using end-to-end encrypted cloud storage eliminates these risks because the data is encrypted on the user’s device before being uploaded to the cloud.
Security risks are greatly reduced with end-to-end encryption. Google, iCloud, Dropbox, and many other cloud storage providers retain a copy of the key to decrypt their users’ data, leaving it vulnerable in the event of a data breach. With end-to-end encryption, files can never be decrypted without the unique private key that only each user knows.
Proton even extends its encrypted protection to its file-sharing links, which you can protect with an additional password and an expiration date. The Proton Drive app automatically generates and adds a random password to the link that you copy, ensuring Proton can never access your file, even if you don’t use an additional password.
How to use Proton cloud storage
Proton Drive offers up to 1 GB of free cloud storage, and creating an account is simple:
Upload files or folders by dragging and dropping them into the file manager. Or click on New and select Upload file or Upload folder and select the files or folders you wish to upload to your cloud storage.
Cloud storage is great for sharing large files, backing up and securing your data, collaborating on shared files in real time, and accessing synced files across multiple devices. Cons of cloud storage include requiring an internet connection and privacy concerns. Using an end-to-end encrypted cloud storage service can mitigate privacy and security issues.
What are the 3 common reasons to use the cloud?
People often use the cloud for saving photos and videos, collaborating with colleagues, and sharing large files.
What is the cloud?
The cloud refers to internet-connected servers that can store data and run software, often provided as a service to individuals and companies that require computing but don’t want to own and operate server infrastructure. Cloud storage is one service commonly offered by cloud computing companies.