Cloud technology has proven that it’s here to stay. More and more people are getting in on the game every day. With last weeks announcement of Adobe CS6 and the Creative Cloud and this weeks Ramp up of Google Drive, we could get lost in the legalese if we’re not careful.
Be sure to check into the terms of service for each of these cloud storage services before choosing how you will use them.
In the Google Drive terms of service, There is one paragraph that has caused a lot of concern for those who actually took the time to read the document.
“When you upload or otherwise submit content to our Services, you give Google (and those we work with) a worldwide license to use, host, store, reproduce, modify, create derivative works (such as those resulting from translations, adaptations or other changes that we make so that your content works better with our Services), communicate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute such content.”
Google’s PR Team was quick to address these concerns releasing a statement saying,
“Some of our Services allow you to submit content. You retain ownership of any intellectual property rights that you hold in that content. In short, what belongs to you stays yours.”
I’m still a bit worried. For now I’m just going to be sure not to keep any documentation of my application ideas or my coding files stored within Google Drive. I do however feel safe knowing how beefed up their security is. I’ll have no problem with storing files within the drive that I consider personal or sensitive. I don’t want Google to have the opportunity to steal my ideas for its own use, which is what the wording in its terms of service seem to alude to.
Dropbox is a widely used file-sharing and storing service that is cloud based. They take copyright infringement seriously if their site, or members of their site are guilty of it.
They offer a link to The Digital Millennium Act of 1998 within their Terms of Service Documentation. This stuff is not easy reading by any means, but it’s important stuff, and it’s information that developers and software engineers need to protect themselves.
The cloud is here to stay. I think the most important thing we all have to do is pay attention to our privacy settings, read Terms of Service documents before agreeing to them, and keep an eye on what we’re putting out in cyberspace. It’s scary out there now, but you’ll only get burned if you’re lazy. Be diligent, know your rights, and for the love of God, do not blindly click “Agree.”
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