Hey Pierre,

I don’t use any sort of cloud storage. My Internet is not fast enough to support uploading files of any significant size so all my backups are stored locally.

Proton Drive is very new so, hopefully, the service will improve in those areas you’ve mentioned. In the meantime, I suggest you contact Proton support and explain your concerns to them.

The article was merely to let users know that there is another cloud storage service available, it was never meant to be a detailed review.

Cheers… Jim

Sure, send away.

JD

Thanks for that JD. I know a lot of security bods worry about the 5-Eyes situation but, personally, I don’t find it overly concerning. If one is not doing anything illegal or immoral and security/encryption is strong, I don’t really think it matters all that much.

JD, would you mind if I send you a personal message via your registered email address? No problem if you decline, I just want to pass something by you.

Hi Jim,
To the best of my knowledge, the free version is the same as the Personal version with a 10 GB limit in size. I don’t use sharing, I set up a private security encryption key. But if you need that, do not set up a private security encryption key since the share feature is limited to IDrive accounts with default encryption key.

The FAQ page is located here: https://www.idrive.com/online-backup-classic-faq
The features page is located here: https://www.idrive.com/online-backup-features

Note: there are other security companies out there with 5 -10 GB free tier. Some might not like IDrive since they are located in the US (Five-Eyes and all that). I don’t have an issue with that since I use a private security encryption key so even iDrive can not see my data. But, if they turned it over to the NSA, I’m sure their supercomputers could crack it quickly. I don’t have any info that they would be interested in since I don’t engage in illegal activities nor have State secrets, so that doesn’t concern me.

Note: Proton will cooperate with law enforcement authorities too: https://proton.me/legal/law-enforcement but my guess is that Proton will be a little stronger than iDrive since they are based in Switzerland if that is a concern (but I’m not an expert on this).

JD

Hey JD,

The issue I have with iDrive is, apart from the 10 GB data limit, there is no mention of exactly what you are getting with a free account, no features listed at all. Can you please confirm the free account includes the same full security and file sharing features that are supported in the paid-for accounts?

Proton is a good security-based company, but as you mentioned, 1 GB on their free tier is very small. There are other security-based cloud drives and security-based cloud backup services that offer equally secure services but offer 5 – 10 GB in their free tier.

Personally, I use iDrive. I first learned of iDrive on your site from Dick Evans https://davescomputertips.com/how-to-make-daily-backups-automatic/ years ago.

They currently offer 10 GB in their free tier. They use 256-bit AES encryption on transfer and storage and to transfer the sign-in credentials–so they are secure. They have 2FA support. If you are not going to do file sharing, you can step up the security by using a private encryption key, too. And, they have been audited and comply with the SSAE 16 standard and are GDPR, HIPPA-BAA, SOX, GLBA, and SEC/FINRA compliant.

I think the average person could get by with a 5-10 GB service, but I don’t think the average person could get by on 1 GB, that’s just too small for most, in my opinion.

JD