Apple, with its iCloud, and other companies that offer cloud storage apparently have some work to do convincing folks such storage is safe.

Following the latest report released on Monday by the Gartner research group (http://www.gartner.com), which focused on the future of digital storage in "the cloud," one of the leading coupon code websites in the US has conducted a flash-poll of Americans to discover more about their opinions towards cloud storage; and whether they would feel comfortable in using cloud-based services at home.
 
CouponCodes4u.com, a coupon code website, CouponCodes4u.com, a coupon code website, conducted a flash-poll of 2,007 Americans, aged 21-35, in a bid to discover more about their perceptions concerning data stored in the cloud and whether hey felt comfortable using cloud storage. Respondents were also asked whether such technology would make them leave their hard drives and flash drives behind and switch to storing all personal data online.
 
Respondents were initially asked whether or not they used a cloud storage service on a daily basis, to which 12% replied "yes." When questioned further to discover what type of cloud related services or programs the respondents used, 72% replied that they used Apple iCloud, while 45% said they used Dropbox and 15% said they used Google Drive. Under a tenth, 7%, admitted to downloading the latest Box One Cloud app on Android.
 
All respondents taking part were then asked whether t they currently felt safe storing personal documents online through the cloud, with just 31% replying "yes." The majority, 69%, claimed that they were unsure of the safety of storing personal documents in the cloud. 
 
Those who were unsure of the safety of the cloud were asked to explain their reasons why, and were able to select more than one response.  The majority, 48%, replied that they did not feel safe storing "sentimental and personal documents online as opposed to their house or office," while 31% said that "online hacking" was a worry. For a quarter, 24%, not being able to "access their information if the cloud was down" was a contributing factor.
 
According to the research, an additional 21% cited "lack of control" over the Internet and their personal information as a concern, while 15% admitted that they did not know enough about "the cloud" and its abilities to feel confident with using it.
 
However, when asked if they believed that they would use a cloud storage service at some point in the future, 61% of total respondents said "yes."
 
Of these, 41% explained that they would only use the cloud for storing "extra copies" of their digital data, while 25% of respondents said that they would use the cloud to store travel documents, such as passport scans, travel itineraries and contact details "just in case" their wallet and personal affects were lost or stolen while away from home.
 
Only 5% of respondents replied that they would feel "completely comfortable" in transferring their digital data online without "backup drives" or "copies."
 
Mark Pearson, chairman of CouponCodes4u.com, underscores what I've been saying for a long time: "Although quite a few people use 'the cloud' on a day to day basis, perhaps it would be a smart move to make sure you have copies of all those important documents instead of placing all ones eggs in a single digital basket."

-- Dennis Sellers