Introduction

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Lately, friends, acquaintances, and family members have been asking me more and more often what consequences the current (geo)political situation has for the security of their personal data. Instead of going into the specific events of recent weeks and months, I usually repeat what I have been saying for years: when it comes to the security of personal data, it should always be stored in encrypted form with cloud providers.

No trust in providers

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Many people in my circle use cloud services to store personal data such as tax assessments, certificates, hospital reports, loan agreements, and similar documents. Most of these providers are based in the US, but ultimately, their origin is irrelevant. I don’t trust any cloud storage provider enough to entrust them with my personal data in plain text – regardless of where they are based.

The threat situation has changed once again as a result of current developments in artificial intelligence (AI) – albeit not significantly. Very few people would want their data to be used for training LLMs or for other opaque purposes. There have always been discussions about whether Google, for example, uses cloud data to deliver personalized advertising or create personality profiles – so the discussion itself has hardly changed. Then as now, the answer is: if the data is properly encrypted and the provider cannot access it, it is also unusable for undesirable purposes.

But how can good file-level encryption be implemented in the cloud today? Many solutions are impractical – such as encrypted ZIP files, which have to be completely downloaded and uploaded again after every change.

What is Cryptomator?

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Cryptomator¹ is a free, open-source program that encrypts your files before they are stored in the cloud. This means that no one—neither hackers nor the cloud provider—can access your data, even if it is stored in services such as Google Drive, Dropbox, or OneDrive.

The software works like a virtual safe: you place your sensitive files in a special folder (“safe”), and Cryptomator automatically encrypts them before they are stored in the cloud. Only with your password can you decrypt and open the files again.

The advantages of Cryptomator at a glance

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Here are the advantages of the solution at a glance:

• ✅ Easy to use: No complicated settings required.
• ✅ Maximum security: Strong end-to-end encryption protects your data.
• ✅ Transparency through open source: The publicly viewable code creates additional trust.
• ✅ Platform-independent: Works on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS.

In short: With Cryptomator, your data stored in the cloud remains truly private – simple, secure, and free.

If you would like to use a different solution, you can also take a look at Veracrypt² – however, encryption is performed per container rather than per file, making it less practical for use with cloud services.

If you would like to find out more about European alternatives to the major US cloud providers, I recommend this overview³.