Opting never to use 'Cloud' storage?

[BlueOwl245]

Twitawoo and hello everyone!

The question I asked yesterday about Outlook aliases seems to have brought me no answers yet, so I hope to have more luck with this one...!

I am not only new to using my new Lumia 640 XL (Dual SIM), but also very new to windows phones too! I am quite an old school kind of person who does not like so called 'Cloud' storage, OneDrive or whatever other name you prefer for it. I have a huge 64Gb SD card in my phone which is more than I will need, and I am mistrustful of the concept of cloud storage for a number of reasons. That is my opinion, and that is final. On to my question then...

I have yet to try using most of the apps installed on my Lumia 640 XL with Denim update 2. I have set storage of music and all photos to SD card. I am told that as and when I first use Cloud storage, it will trigger an email from MS thanking me for using my OneDrive cloud storage. Because I have not received such a mail yet, I assume I have not yet saved anythin yet.
Which standard apps require compulsary data storage to Cloud?
I want to uninstall all those that do, or at least disable them, including my one years sub of Office (which I have not yet used). Can anyone please list those apps that 'MUST' use cloud storage?

In particular, I am unclear about Wallet, Cortana, Calender and People/Contacts. What can I do (if anything) about setting these NEVER to use 'the Cloud'??

Thanks and twitawoo!
BlueOwl245.

 

[DoyouFanBoyBro]

how did you set your photos to go to the SD card? it's not prompting to asking me too, and I can't find it in settings...

 

[BlueOwl245]

DoYouFan, simply go to Settings - Storage Sense. Then look at the four highlighted boxes and tap whichever you want to save by default to SD. Camera apps will NOT prompt you as far as I understand.

To switch on/off the Auto Upload of your camera pictures to OneDrive Cloud, from your start screen go to Photos - ... more - Settings, and then look for Auto Upload and tap 'OneDrive'. Then choose settings as required, and tap Start to save.

BO245.

 

[Ed Boland]

Twitawoo and hello everyone!

The question I asked yesterday about Outlook aliases seems to have brought me no answers yet, so I hope to have more luck with this one...!

I am not only new to using my new Lumia 640 XL (Dual SIM), but also very new to windows phones too! I am quite an old school kind of person who does not like so called 'Cloud' storage, OneDrive or whatever other name you prefer for it. I have a huge 64Gb SD card in my phone which is more than I will need, and I am mistrustful of the concept of cloud storage for a number of reasons. That is my opinion, and that is final. On to my question then...

I have yet to try using most of the apps installed on my Lumia 640 XL with Denim update 2. I have set storage of music and all photos to SD card. I am told that as and when I first use Cloud storage, it will trigger an email from MS thanking me for using my OneDrive cloud storage. Because I have not received such a mail yet, I assume I have not yet saved anythin yet.
Which standard apps require compulsary data storage to Cloud?
I want to uninstall all those that do, or at least disable them, including my one years sub of Office (which I have not yet used). Can anyone please list those apps that 'MUST' use cloud storage?

In particular, I am unclear about Wallet, Cortana, Calender and People/Contacts. What can I do (if anything) about setting these NEVER to use 'the Cloud'??

Thanks and twitawoo!
BlueOwl245.

If you ever want to enjoy all the features of your new phone, and more importantly, the Windows ecosystem as a whole, you'll need to utilize, and fully embrace the "cloud". Cloud computing is not just "cloud storage" any more. With Windows, we use Onedrive as a means for all of our devices to be in "sync" with one another. A picture you take with your phone will be available on your PC, or an entry in an Excel spreadsheet on your PC, will be available on your phone. You might be playing a certain game on your phone, and your progress and score is saved in the cloud, and is accessible when you start the same universal game or app on your PC. These are just a couple examples, but pretty much everything uses the cloud these days; email, calendar, wallet, Cortana, people/contacts (the list goes on and on) all depend on Onedrive "cloud" syncing, and are all tied to your Microsoft account. So when you create a Microsoft account, and sign into it, you're already using "the cloud".

As far as "cloud storage" goes; if you're worried about the safety and integrity (or even privacy) of your data, just keep a local backup. Nobody is forcing anyone to use Onedrive as their only means of data storage. I always burn my photos to discs for safe keeping.. But I also auto-upload them all to Onedrive. It's just convenient having your pics/files readily available on any device that you sign into.

how did you set your photos to go to the SD card? it's not prompting to asking me too, and I can't find it in settings...

Go to settings/ storage sense and scroll down. You'll see the boxes for choosing SD card or phone for the save locations.

 

[BlueOwl245]

Thanks Ed for your helpful reply... but I am not very convinced Cloud is a good way to go. I will think about it for a while.

Personally, I strongly agree with what this article says about using Cloud.

8 Reasons to Fear Cloud Computing

I have a strong down to earth dose of common sense, and with physical local storage being so easy these days to SD, why risk anything else? Especially important or confidential files/documents?

BO245.

 

[Pete]

To be honest, Owl, you're already in the cloud (it's really difficult for email not to be cloud based). There's sensitive and private information about you that's stored by a multitude of different companies (banking, tax, social security details (or whatever your local equivalent is), credit history, medical records, etc.). You can be reasonably sure that any data about you is stored in cloud servers all over the world and administered by different companies.

That's pretty much a fact and there's not really much you can do about it, it's out there. The article you referred to there is a couple of years old now and isn't really relevant to consumers (the article is actually aimed at small businesses using cloud storage providers).

As Ed points out, it's probably possible to cripple your phones settings to prevent or limit items that are saved to the Microsoft cloud servers, but this limits the way that you interact with your own data and you get less value out of the phone you have. Also, if your device gets damaged, you've lost your stuff (unless you go through the (mainly obsolete) method of syncing everything with a USB cable).

Also, if you store your documents on OneDrive, it's so much easier to copy those to your computer for additional archiving.

 

[Intense Soul]

Things change by time and as of now there is no privacy after all. But, still following an article dated October 1, 2013 11:07 am EDT is really bad. It makes me think, that whether you were not aware of recent developments in cloud services by each and every company. And coming to Microsoft, if you are going along with an article written years ago, then you should also look at the developments that were made in cloud services by respective organizations. Even the writer might have started using the cloud services by now. It depends on what you choose, you may like it one day or you may not.

 

[Harrie-S]

Dear Owl,
As can be seen above not many people have the same fear but your opinion is your opinion and I respect it so here I go.

Just to make it complete.
The safest why to keep out of the cloud is buy a digital camera and an old non smart phone.

"no" MS account
On you phone you need a MS account to be able to update/install apps and OS/firmware updates.
Furthermore this MS account can be used as email, agenda and to store contact and the agenda and contacts are auto synced with the cloud.
Now if you do not want updates and apps etc go to settings > email+accounts > hold the MS account and reenter a fake password. You will get a message that it is wrong and that your accounts needs attention but just disregard it. Now there is no sync anymore. If this does not work change use your PC and login in at outlook and change the pasword but do not change it on your phone.
Or don't use a MS account during the setup of your phone.

MS account.
If you still want to update etc but you do not want to sync your contacts and agenda etc.
Go to settings > back up > and disable apps+settings, text and photo+video back up.

Also check if you want to disable the following settings ; Find my phone, sync my settings, location, advertising ID, feedback and maybe the auto update of date and time.

Create on your pc a fake outlook/google or whatever account (just fill in what ever you want to protect your ID)
Add this account in Email+accounts in Download new content use manual and unmark all "content to sync.". So contacts and agenda items you add stay on your phone.
(Or if you not only are an old school kind of person but also from the pre mobile/dect phone you can use the paper notebook which we used in that time�&#56835
Maybe you need to mark one so use task but then do not add task in your agenda or email if you want this email.

If you want to use email you can use your MS account or the fake account as email.

And do not use apps like OneNote and do not sign-in in Music etc and do not auto log in on wifi hotspots or use wifi sence.
Keep Wifi and data off as much as possible.

I never tried above so you need to fine tuning something but it will reduce the use of the "cloud".

Good luck,

Cortana needs location to function if she needs cloud I am not sure.
Wallet needs cloud if you use it but if do not use it it does "nothing". So if you do not want to buy apps or pay something with a "card" you store inside your safe. And if you want to buy apps I would suggest a MS gift card or Xbox gift card so you do not need to store your credit card.
And if you have carrier billing you can I think disable this so ask your carrier how to do this (if necessary).

If you use HERE drive or maps do not make an account.

 

[Guytronic]

The web has become a game of cat and mouse.
I can understand fear of the internet and cloud services.
We keep a laptop with no internet connection for certain records, photos and other work.

I've had accounts hacked, credit\debit card accounts compromised among other online attacks.
It's just a matter of being wise about what is revealed on-line these days.

If it's sensitive or not easily protected don't store it anywhere on digital media that's accessible over the wire.
I imagine it's possible to have a disconnected smartphone although that seems somewhat anti-productive to me.

 

[Fin-Tomi]

Nowdays smartphone is one of most cloud connected thing. If I'd really wanted to avoid cloud, I would get some pre-cloud era smartphone which would basically be old Nokia Symbian phone or just use dumb phone. Or Jolla.

But as said before (in Settings):
- From "sync my settings" disable everything
- From "photos+camera disable auto upload
- From "find my phone" disable
- From "backup" disable everything
- For Apps these things needs to be figured per app basis, if they store data into cloud or not.

Calendar and Contacts are more tricky since they cannot be stored only on phone, as Harrie-S said fake account with sync disabled is probably only way. Moving data to new phone would be bit tricky, but there is MS made app "contacts+message backup" which will backup calendar and contacts data to SD card.

Storing data offline can have its caveats also. Couple months ago I checked some CD:s that I had burned ~10 years ago, all gone bad. I've had NAS where multiple disks went bad. Phone can be stolen = data gone. SD card can go bad. At some point people used to use SIM cards to store contacts, if something happened to it or it was needed to replace = contacts gone. Cloud can potentially fix some paint points we had before and introduces new ones, so its up to you to decide which is lesser evil.

 

[wgrs]

You don't need to upload your photos, but as a minimum keep contacts and calendars in the cloud. When your phone gets lost or you move to another phone, you'll appreciate how smooth it is.

I have my contacts/calendars in the iCloud, as I use Apple hardware a lot too. Works perfectly. I reduced Onedrive and use Dropbox more often for data storage, as it is faster and works better. YMMV.

Phone backups, Onenotes and settings still go to Onedrive of course.

 

[PepperdotNet]

Of course the safest way may be to just fully embrace using cloudy services, but be extremely careful about private information. Always assume that anything you do or say using any of your devices will be listened to and looked at by other people. It most likely isn't (Microsoft is one of the better companies I know of when it comes to respecting users' privacy) but if you assume it is, you'll be less likely to save that embarrassing photo or incriminating document online.

 

[BlueOwl245]

My thanks for your advice and comments, which I have read carefully, particularly to Ed and Pete.

My concerns with using cloud computing, has nothing to do with convinience or ease of use, or even being able to 'sync' several devices as you have described. I have no need at all to 'sync' anything, as my needs are modest and I prefer secure old fashioned methods. I back up anything worth backing up every day to not just one, but two very secure high quality and totally independent (of the internet, wifi or my devices) storage facilities. I am more likely to be hit by a falling meteor than lose access to any important data. I do not follow fashions, fads or trends, and my technology needs are fairly minimal.
My concerns about using cloud computing is the same one that many other people have - data privacy and security. The web article I quoted above may have been aimed primarily at business users, and it may have been written 2 years ago, but I say so what?! The principles are still sound and most apply to personal users too, for everyday people. Although the last few weeks have been the first time ever I have owned and used a smartphone at all, I got one thing wrong... I thought Cloud computing was only about optional storage you could opt out of, but I seem to have been wrong. I have been the victim of a bad cyberattack before, due to an organisation holding Cloud based financial data. And so has a good friend of mine. We are both very intelligent and cautious people, yet what happened did happen. This explains my dislike of cloud computing in principle. We all have important information held commercially one way or another by companies and governments using cloud technology, and as there is nothing I or we can do about that, I agree there is little point debating it, there I do agree.

But I am talking here about more personal and everyday data, that I/we use on our windows phones, that is being collected (and spied on?) by Cloud. Suddenly, I understand that term 'big brother society' correctly, and it feels very intrusive and against my right to some privacy. So long as there is a clearly explained way to opt out of using most of it, for those of us like me who want to, then fine no problem. I am not clear on exactly what you can still do on a Lumia phone, without a MS account...? Fortunately for me, to serve my simple birdy needs I do not mind "limiting the functionality" of my Lumia if it greatly increases the privacy and security of my personal data and 'daily trends and behaviour'! Phone calls, texts, dual sim functionality, a decent camera and a great IE browser in my feathered pocket, is more than enough for me. I don;'t understand people who don't care about risking their privacy and 'just accept it because other people do'. But that is their choice I suppose.

Best wishes to all and thanks for your comments, and opening my wide eyes to what cloud computing really means!

(Maybe I should have paid more attention when I watched "Die Hard 4.0", and "The World Is Not Enough"!)

 

[BlueOwl245]

I forgot to give thanks to Fin and Harriet for your helpful settings advice. And Owl wise words from Pepperdot too, thanks.

I'm still a bit unclear about Office though. My 640XL came with a free one year sub of all new 'Office' (actually it's Office 365) which I assume is another app that uses mandatory OneDrive cloud storage (ie, no way to switch off?). I don't really need it on my phone, either way...

And what about BING and Cortana searches, do they automatically save (and "learn about me!") to OneDrive cloud?

(And BTW, I have no problem with my Lumia tracking my location on a regular basis. Firstly, that is one thing I do agree could be very useful in certain situations. And, all mobiles have been doing that simple function for years anyway. Oh, and my PC runs Linux which I love, so no syncing for me anyway...!)

BlueOwl245

Taa-wOOOOOOOOO!! )

 

[Fin-Tomi]

That 1yr Office 365 Personal subscription means 1Tb capacity expansion into OneDrive and one Office license for another device (for example desktop). It needs to activated trough Gift App into your MS Account which you can then use to active the Office :smile:

Phone already has Office app installed and it can store to local memory, so you can probably already use it.

I don't thing Bing directly connects to OneDrive but it collects some data.

When you use Bing and MSN services, Microsoft may collect many kinds of information in order to operate effectively and provide you the best products, services and experiences we can. We collect information when you register, sign in and use our sites and services. We also may get information from other companies. We collect this information in a variety of ways, including from web forms, technologies like cookies, web logging and software on your computer or other device.

When you conduct a search, Microsoft collects the following:
?Search term and time and date of your search
?IP address, browser configuration and your location
?Any unique identifiers contained in the cookies

We store search terms (and the cookie IDs associated with search terms) separately from any account information that directly identifies the user, such as name, e-mail address, or phone numbers. We have technological safeguards in place designed to prevent the unauthorized correlation of this data and we remove the entirety of the IP address after 6 months, cookies and other cross session identifiers, after 18 months.

Bing provides search services to select partners and its users. Some examples include Yahoo! and Nokia. In order to provide these services, Bing services receive certain search related information from these partners that may include date, time, IP address, a unique identifier and other search related data.

Unfortunately I don't have posted enought to post direct link to Microsoft Privacy statement.

 

[BlueOwl245]

Thanks again Fin for that helpful bit of information.

I just asked a question about Office 365 to be crystal clear about if it ever automatically saves anything to OneDrive. It seems easy enough to clear all Bing searches, and not that I want to use Cortana, but those searches and data too.

I discovered an important document to read yesterday that i wish I had found earlier! It is the "Windows 8.1 Phone Privacy Statement" from MS and goes into some detail about every function and standard app on Lumia phones, and how/if/why they transmit data to MS or the Cloud or a third party. It also contains a good intro into how alot of the settings and apps work, although I still think in places it is written a little vague. I think a copy of this should be IN THE BOX with every Lumia product (there was not one in mine anyway).

Harriet, thanks again for your help. In places it was a bit hard to read, but I got the idea. I am not going to limit my phone quite as brutally as you seem to think (even I am not 'that' old school!), but I seem to have greatly limited my phone from 'cloud computing'. I have absolutely no problem at all with what is known as "Standard Device Information" as mobile devices have been doing for years. I have no problem with basic account information being held by MS, and all that stuff either - I just object to the private personal usage and data I am using. With that said, I would still trust Microsoft alot more than any other organisation. Oh, and I have no problem either with device location information (essential for mapping) or basic settings data being held either, which as I see it, is quite harmless too. The same goes, for "Phone & Service Credentials" and because adverts are little more than annoying at best, "Personalised Advertising ID" information is something else that does not bother me (I'm not naive or easily swayed to buy products..!), so all this is data that I do not mind being sent from my phone.

I have a huge twin drive data storage facility in my music studio, which is also totally isolated and independent from the outside world. It is FAR FAR more than I could ever need in a whole lifetime, and I am still a big fan of the (now old fashioned?!) USB CABLE.

Anyway, thank you all again for your helpful advice.

And remember (I'm not sure where I picked up this quote, but all the same...)
"...all technology is to serve the needs and wishes of the USER FIRST, and not it's creators or itself first. Like a wheel that fails to turn, or a lamp that fails to light, any technology that fails simple logic, or it's direct users needs and convinience, is technology that fails it's primary objective and is a waste of time and effort".

Blue Owl 245