We have been talking a lot about online applications, apps that aid us online, so that our stuff is accessible in the ether, behind the scenes here lately. I don’t know how many of you are utilising apps like Evernote, Google Apps or even Photobucket. Some simple examples of online apps that put your personal data in the so called cloud. Doug put up a great review of Goosync at My Today Screen that emphasises the uses for cloud applications. The implications for mobility are endless, “I can access my information anywhere I can access the intertubes” is the inherent capability of anything we are calling a cloud application.

I thought we were talking about something more like the MIST.

Clouds and mists are similair aren’t they, and there may be monsters hidden in all of them,  online apps may serve up their own Ogres, that has fuelled our interest in online applications, but have you even thought about what’s going to be hiding under the bed when the intertubes go out.

There are questions to be asked, I mean you find a new online application and sign up, how many of you actually read the EULA that you agree to when signing up to use the application. So the data that I put online? does that belong to me or the service provider? In recent times we have seen people not able to retrieve their data from MySpace and Facebook, in the end have you thought about the data that you put online, via third party providers. Is that information private? is it yours? If it’s on somebody else’s server, what rights have you given them to your data on signup. It’s a relatively new idea, are you aware, do you think there may be bugs!

It’s hard to think about , How many online free services are you accessing on a daily basis, and you Know that includes Gmail.

Be Sociable, Share!

•